Monorchid questions... - Page 2

Thanks again everyone!

@mirasmom - no, he wasn't shipped. I picked him up locally. 

A dog with a late descending testicle is probably not a good breeding candidate as it indicates late closure of the inguinal ring; not desirable. The ring should close by 8 weeks at the latest. Having said that, there is also the chance that both testicles are in the scrotum and the ring has already closed, but the examiner is not able to palpate both either due to lack of their own skill or to the dog's ability to draw one or both testicles up far up into the scrotum. I find it easier to find testicles on young puppies by holding them on my lap in a seated position rather than having them stand upright. When one masters that technique, testicles can be felt when a male puppy is as young as 3, 4 weeks. If you can feel both that young, odds are the dog will have both descended when he's 6 months old. If not, then that probably means the inguinal ring closed too late and the missing testicle/s.was located above the ring when it did close. Sometimes the testicle is actually trapped in the ring when is closes. There are other reason why both testicles don't descend, but delayed closure of the ring is probably  the most common.

I would not mess with it too much because you can push the testicle permanently up if you do it wrong and  when the ring is closing and is tight enough to let the testicle in under your pressure but will not descend down anymore.
 If you pick the pup gently by it's chest and get him relaxed and look at his belly you can see the testicles.That should be good enough.  But  if you insist on feeling them do not push up but slide the index and middle finger on each side of his penis down - from front to back ALWAYS and then feel them against your thumb. If you are not sure what you are doing then do nothing your self and let vet take care of it. In any case never push on the testicles up so that you do not push them into  the belly. 
  Prager Hans

My boy had a retained testicle and when he was 2 1/2 I asked our local vet to remove the retained and leave the other intact. He refused. I found another vet 40 minutes away who is also a breeder of field retrievers who said she would do the same with one of her dogs. She performed the surgery and now two years later I still make the drive to see her rather than the local one. Will be taking Benny to her tomorrow for what i think is a UTI

I wanted to include a picture of my boy.... Thanks for all your help and advice. As a newbie to the forum I really appreciate it. 

So, we are coming up to 10 months and I've pretty much given up all hope at this point.  Additionally, he has soft/floppy ears.  Outside of that he is extremely handsome, and has excellent drive.  However, I'm curious as to the guarantees most breeders offer.  Are things such as being monorchid and having floppy ears something breeders usually guarantee?  I contacted my breeder and although when I purchased him, the breeder said his health was guaranteed according to his word, he said that he was considered "pet quality" and therefore things like this wouldn't be covered.  Supposedly his hips would still be covered - I'm hoping I never have to find out.  Can anyone else share their experience in this department?

here he is again.....

Did you knowingly buy him as 'pet quality', and maybe at a lower 'pet quality'
price ?  Do you have anything written by the breeder about the worth or health
of the puppy ?  It sounds from your first post as if the only thing your breeder
bothered to say to you was that he thought the pup was a good breeding prospect.

I would have run a mile at that point.  Even if I had been trying to buy a dog with
breeding later in my plans.  

From my observations (from over here in the UK) most USA breeders do not usually
offer warranties on ears and  testicles,  just on Hip Dysplasia, Elbows, and maybe DM.  
As GSD2727 said,  a good clued-up breeder should both notice it [when possible] and
mention it to purchasers - but from what I hear on PDB there are many many breeders
who are not good & clued up, and/or would deliberately not mention it.

He's a handsome chap, but those ears are almost certainly never going to go up
now.  As for the retained testicle, as others said earlier this year, while there's no
immediate rush to get it done, it really ought to come out, wherever it is sitting in
his body.

How are you doing with him on the Training field ?
 

Something weird I notice is that his ears seemed up for the most part in the younger pic, but completely down now?  That is strange to me, since if they were up as a pup they should have stayed up?

I too would NOT neuter him until he is completely done growing; between 2 and 3 years old;  then I would only find the retained testicle and take that;  not completely take both.  I think you have less problems down the road with health matters like allergy, lack or no harmones, drives, aggression, weight gain.  I am sure there is more but this puppy should not be used for breeding.  Best of luck  Nan