Hi Folks,
I've read several threads here about pups with one testicle or only one descended testicle and wanted to get some more thoughts.
My pup will be 7 months old later this month and only has one descended testicle. From what I've read, I think the chances of the other one dropping are fairly slim, and less as time goes on.
From a health standpoint, he has had a couple hot spots, and sometimes he seems to gulp water and then pee copiously, but not all the time, and I don't know if there's a problem there or not. So, really, at this point, the only real health issue is the missing ball.
I've talked to the breeder and she says there's still a chance it could drop, and there isn't a history of this problem with the parents or other pups they've had.
From a training standpoint, this is a really nice pup with a pretty good pedigree. He's very friendly and has plenty of desire to go, seems to be a good marker, eager to please etc. I am training him myself following Smartwork Program, and have just gotten to hold at the beginning of FF. I don't plan to FT him (unless he just turns out to be that good) but do plan to hunt test him, and think he probably has the potential to do very well in that.
I am not a big fan of getting male dogs castrated. Not that I really have any plans to breed him, but because I don't mind the male behavior so much, and think the health drawbacks of castrating outweigh the benefits. If he does as well as I think he can, and is clean on the health clearances for hips, eyes, elbows, CNM, etc etc, then maybe I would consider it.
So - I'm thinking I need to wait til he's a year and hope it drops, but then sometime soon after, the descended ball would have to come out.
From what I've read, if he was clear on all of the other health clearances, and was good enough as a retriever, having one ball would not necessarily preclude breeding. How good would that have to be before you'd consider it?
I'm looking for some feedback on whether or not I'm thinking about this the right way.
Would you wait til 12 months? Sooner than that? Later?
Would you leave the descended testicle?
Assuming he performs well - say MH and easy to be around in the duck blind etc - would you even consider breeding? Not so much thinking about that as to if I should bother with the clearances etc.
For the breeders out there - what would you say to a someone who got one of your pups in this situation?
I think enough of this pup, that I plan to train him up as good as I can and take him as far as he can go even if there's no chance of breeding him. Should I keep that option open in case he outperforms my expectations?
Thanks
I've read several threads here about pups with one testicle or only one descended testicle and wanted to get some more thoughts.
My pup will be 7 months old later this month and only has one descended testicle. From what I've read, I think the chances of the other one dropping are fairly slim, and less as time goes on.
From a health standpoint, he has had a couple hot spots, and sometimes he seems to gulp water and then pee copiously, but not all the time, and I don't know if there's a problem there or not. So, really, at this point, the only real health issue is the missing ball.
I've talked to the breeder and she says there's still a chance it could drop, and there isn't a history of this problem with the parents or other pups they've had.
From a training standpoint, this is a really nice pup with a pretty good pedigree. He's very friendly and has plenty of desire to go, seems to be a good marker, eager to please etc. I am training him myself following Smartwork Program, and have just gotten to hold at the beginning of FF. I don't plan to FT him (unless he just turns out to be that good) but do plan to hunt test him, and think he probably has the potential to do very well in that.
I am not a big fan of getting male dogs castrated. Not that I really have any plans to breed him, but because I don't mind the male behavior so much, and think the health drawbacks of castrating outweigh the benefits. If he does as well as I think he can, and is clean on the health clearances for hips, eyes, elbows, CNM, etc etc, then maybe I would consider it.
So - I'm thinking I need to wait til he's a year and hope it drops, but then sometime soon after, the descended ball would have to come out.
From what I've read, if he was clear on all of the other health clearances, and was good enough as a retriever, having one ball would not necessarily preclude breeding. How good would that have to be before you'd consider it?
I'm looking for some feedback on whether or not I'm thinking about this the right way.
Would you wait til 12 months? Sooner than that? Later?
Would you leave the descended testicle?
Assuming he performs well - say MH and easy to be around in the duck blind etc - would you even consider breeding? Not so much thinking about that as to if I should bother with the clearances etc.
For the breeders out there - what would you say to a someone who got one of your pups in this situation?
I think enough of this pup, that I plan to train him up as good as I can and take him as far as he can go even if there's no chance of breeding him. Should I keep that option open in case he outperforms my expectations?
Thanks
