Golden Retriever puppy with one retained testicle

Question

We are planning to buy a Golden Retriever puppy from one breeder and we liked one male puppy which we are keen to make him our family member. He is now 7 weeks old. Breeder recently took all of his puppies to Vet and found that the puppy we are interested in is having one of his testicles retained. He is only one out of 4 boys in the current litter having this problem. The breeder told us that in the last litter there were 3 such puppies who had this problem initially, but eventually they were fine and retained testicle got descended later.

This will be our first puppy, so we are a bit concerned about the situation. The breeder is saying that if the testicle doesn't descend, then he will be happy to bear the cost of surgery up to $400. We are not really comfortable that our puppy going under the knife twice.

In this regard, I have a couple of questions.

1. Is it a must to remove retained testicle?
2. If dog undergoes retained testicle removal surgery then will he have any health issues in the future?
3. Given the chance, should we avoid buying this puppy?

Any help much appreciated.

Answer 1

Testicles typically drop by 12 weeks but some can stay up until 6 months old so it’s a bit early to be worried just yet.

It’s also very kind of the breeder to offer the cost, they don’t have any obligation to do so.

I assume you plan to get the pup neutered based on you saying “under the knife twice”?

1. In time it will be need to be removed but I’d wait until you have him neutered (at the appropriate age to do so) so it you can do it all in 1 rather than have multiple surgeries. There’s no guarantee that it will become cancerous.
2. I wouldn’t say there is, you’re actually taking away more risk as retained testicles can become cancerous.
3. It really depends on what you want to do with the dog, if you want him as a pet then go for it, just bear the surgery in mind. If you want to stud him then no, as it’s evident that the retained testicle is a hereditary fault given the previous litter.