Testicle not dropped - Page 1

I recently took my 4.5 month year old gsd puppy to a confirmation show and i was shocked when the judge advised me to remove him from the show due to him only feeling one testicle at the time. My breeder says she's had this problem with a few different dogs at this age. Needless to say I was very disturbed being that I have invested alot of time and $$$ in this dog hoping to get him titled eventually. I'm a total newbie to the GSD dog. Should I worry?

I'm always surprised when I hear that people don't check their puppies before they take them home! If your breeder knew what you had in mind with your pup, she should have advised you better. However, in my last litter I had a beautiful male who also only dropped one testicle. I kept him until he was six months old and nothing happend. My vet told me that he was too old for it to come down anymore. Abou two weeks later a family came to look at him, it was love at first sight on both sides, I told them of his little problem and they told me he was going to be kastrated anyway, they payed a deposit and a week later, there it was, larger than life!!! Fury was nearly 7months old when his second testicle dropped. It was normal sized. You see, miracles can happen, give him a little time and DON'T go trying to find it, as they learn very quickly how to hide them! Good luck and keep us posted.

My first GSD had only one testicle (Cryptorchid), I found out when my vet checked him at his first visit a few days after I picked him up. The Breeder offered to exchange him, but being new and easily attached to my new baby I decided to keep and castrate him. Lesson learned, I will always check before I buy from now on. He was bought as a pet, so I expected nothing in return from the breeder, I was satisfied with her offer to exchange him. I feel that it is the breeders responsibility to check all male pups in the litter, and if any have retained testicles the information should be shared upon purchase. If the dog is intended as a pet then he should be castrated anyway therefore will cause no problems or surprises in the future, and should not turn off any buyers just looking for a pet. At the time of purchase considering the condition I feel it would be honorable for the breeder to sell the pup for less money to compensate for the difference in price of a cryptorchid neuter as opposed to a normal neuter. The difference is rather minimal $25-$100 depending on the vet. Most breeders will sell "pet quality" pups for less money anyway. This condition is not that uncommon in this breed and the second testicle may very well drop within the first six months. Some may take longer to drop, I've heard of some dropping at nearly 1yr old, however I have read that dogs with testicles that don't drop within the first 6months should not be bred. I personally would not purchase a pup intended for show with one testicle and bank on the chances it will drop, not to say that others wouldn't. If your dog was sold as "show/breed quality" (on paper ie. warranty, contract or bill of sale stating he was show quality) I feel that you are entitled to some kind of retribution considering your expected intentions with showing/breeding the pup (which should be spelled out if you got a warranty). However contracts and warranties are generally an American way of doing business. If you purchased the dog from overseas its the luck of the draw and you will likely not get or are entitled to anything from the breeder, thats just the way it is. You live and learn, it still may drop, all you can do is wait and see. However if it doesn't you will at a minimum have to have the retained testicle removed from his abdomen. That is if there is another one, some dogs are only born with one (monorchids). Refer to your vet to find out. If the retained testicle is not removed it will likely become cancerous so it is important to get it out. Good luck, Melanie

It may take as long as twelve (12) months for the second testicle to drop-presuming it is really there. Typically both are present and in the scrotum before six (6) weeks of age. I would be concerned at eight (8) weeks of age and extremely concerned at twelve (12) weeks of age. By six (6) months of age it should definitely be there. I certainly don't mean to beat anyone up, but yes one should check before buying the puppy. And, it does sometimes happen that both are present at six (6) weeks of age yet one (1) retracts into the abdomen as the puppy grows because one (1) of the lowering ligaments does not lengthen as it should. If the testicle is near the scrotum you may be able to carefully massage it into place. Your veterinarian can find it if it is near the correct spot. It is typically the right-side testicle that has the issue since it has a shorter lowering ligament (just like other mammals including humans) and sometimes this ligament is just a few millimeters too short. A gentle but deliberate daily massage of the abdomen may help it to move into place and your veterinarian is the best source of advice for this matter. But, for the record I tried this technique on two (2) different show-line males over the years and it did not work. I do not know whether the puppy is crated all of the time. Some feel that the puppy must be able to frolic daily and the movement of internal tissues assisted by gravity will help drop the testicle in place. That may work as long as the oriface does not become too small relative to the size of the growing testicle. Some may advise using steroid (testosterone or other) treatment to cause the testicles to grow more rapidly, become heavier and more likely to drop into the scrotum. In my opinion, this is a unethical as corrective surgery and I feel that is why we still see this issue with the GSD because these treatments are done in secret because of the ethics issue. I had a breeder recommend this to me one (1) time and thought to myself "a-ha, now I know why we see so much of this". I really hope that your boy's testicle is in the scrotum soon because I know the disappointment this causes. Even if a gentle massage works and the testicle moves into its correct position I would be a bit hesitant to use this dog for breeding. But, work with your veterinarian and give it time. The puppy can be a full year old before you have to make a serious decision. Best of luck, Bob-O

Bob, he's only crated overnight while we sleep. So words of advice? Should I get worried? When should I start thinking about getting a replacement? Should I give him untill a certain age to see if his testicles drop? I'm very interested in titling him and eventually breeding him if his schutzhund work goes well. Thanks much, GSD Newb

I can't believe the judge made you remove him from the ring..they don't even check for the boys here until the 6 month mark... Your vet should be able to tell you where the testicle is located, whether high in the tummy area or if it is lower....I would wait until he's at least 6 months..chances of it dropping after that are certainly lower, but not unheard of.. What does the breeder tell you..has he ever had both testicles decended? Sometimes they can rise then fall again...

Meanderer, it sounds as if you are doing nothing wrong. As some others have said, the six (6) month mark may well be the safe cutoff time as far as you are concerned. I advise that you stay in serious contact with the breeder. The breeder should have made sure that both were present before she sold the puppy to you. If she did (I would like to see it in writing) and they were, then one cannot lay the blame there. As I and some others have said, they do sometimes retract into the body for a while and reappear later. And they sometimes never reappear. You purchased this puppy for show and sport and he must have both testicles to show for conformation. I am curious whether your veterinarian checked the puppy's testicles during his visits to his office. As far as the breeder's responsibilities are concerned, here the very basic things that I do with the males from a litter and I would be surprised if your breeder did not do these things: While the male puppies are at the veterinarian's office for their six-week vaccinations and minor physical, the condition of the eyes, ears, mouth, heart, and testicles is placed in writing on the veterinarian's examination report. The new owner of any puppy receives a copy of these examination reports. I also examine the puppy's testicles with the new owner present if for no other reason than to show the new owner knows that just because these things are a bit out of sight that they should not be out of mind as far as the dog's health is concerned. For example, our last litter had three (3) males. Two (2) of these males had their testicles in place at six (6) weeks, but the third did not. At the age of nine (9) weeks he still did not have them. This was a long coat male that I sold as a limited-registration pet, but I made sure that it was written into the owner's purchase agreement that the testicles were not decended and that the puppy should be neutered at one (1) year of age if they did not decend. I told the buyer that if both did descend before a year passed that the puppy should be able to keep them until he became three (3) years old-if they wished to allow him to have them that long. Meanderer, all that I can say is to repeat that you are doing nothing wrong and to work with the breeder on this even if the two (2) of you must come to some kind of agreement specifying a date that the testicles must be present or you would like another puppy or a refund. Just so you know, I had a hell of a fight on my hands one (1) time for this very issue, and the puppy was German-born (no warranty) from a BSZS VA-rated male. Believe me-I know how you feel. Let us know how this goes. Bob-O

thanks for the helpfull replies guys. It's really very nice for you to state your ideas for the newb here. Another concern is...is this a fault? If a dog's testicles don't show untill 6 months say, does that indicate that you should not breed him? I am very interested in breeding only a correct dog. I have heard so much about the poor breeding of the GSD dog and I see the importance of breeding only correct, proven dogs. So I intended on breeding him only after he attained, kkl, sch1,2 or 3 etc...

If a puppy with only V parents has a fault is it just a birth defect, something that shouldn't be bred..... etc...?

"I can't believe the judge made you remove him from the ring" The judge was being kind apparently saving me a bad mark on a tecticular problem telling me to come back later. Apparently dogs of this age have the ability to pull them up and down when nervous???? I could'nt quite understand everything he said as he spoke only german. So I could only take the few words the interpreter spoke to me. I felt though before he spoke that he was looking at me trying to determine whether or not I knew of the testicle problem. lol