It absolutely is a genetic issue and most certainly could be passed down to pups. In my limited knowledge and humble opinion, this dog should definitely not be used to breed.

Also that retained testicle should be found and removed. The descended testicle maybe left intact if you wish.

 

Yes, it is genetic and a dog with it should not be bred. It is not common, but it isn't rare either. I find it hard to believe that a knowledgeable/experienced breeder would have never heard of it. Never had it occur before in his/her particular bloodlines, perhaps, but any breeder ought to be well educated about the different genetic health issues within the breed they specialize in.

As far as genetics, it is recessive, so parents who don't have it themselves can still pass it on and produce it in offspring. A dog who does exhibit it himself is going to pass it along far more frequently which is why a cryptorchid himself should not be used for breeding.

As for neutering, yes retained testicles are at a much higher risk of becoming cancerous. There is no way to know when that would happen, or even if it would happen, with any individual dog. It might be at 8 years as one vet suggested to you, it might be at 12 years, it might be at 2 years. No one has a working crystal ball to know for certain. The safest thing to do for the long term health and safety of the dog is to remove the testicle.

 

I am a college student taking a Domestic Animal Reproduction class for my Animal Science Minor. (I also have a Kinesiology Major, so you could say I enjoy anatomy and physiology!) We recently talked about this topic and my professor who is a reproductive physiologist had some good points to ponder on the topic.

A monocryptorchid like your pup will have a normal sex drive, but reduced fertility. If for some reason you and your vet decided it was feasible to have JUST the "missing" testicle removed to reduce the risk of cancer, leaving the remaining intact testicle could cause it to experience compensatory sperm production. This COULD mean a potential increase in fertility from about 50% (expected max capacity with one testicle) to about 75% max capacity with just the one. Chances of production being that high of course can't be certain and when utilizing an animal for breeding purposes you want to offer a "good" deal to females. With reduced fertility it may take more than one breeding (therefore stud fee) to get the bitch pregnant.
Even though your pup's sire did not have the cryptorchidism, it could still be passed on to any puppies your dog would produce. Every time a puppy is conceived the genes from its mother and father has been "mixed" and recombined in a new way, hence why new defects can be formed from perfectly normal parents. Yes individual physiology is very present in cryptorchidism, but if there is underlying genetic involvement you will risk passing on this trait by breeding, and then grand puppies...great grand etc. could all be effected. You would pass on his wonderful lines, and the increased risk of cryptorchidism.
You are clearly very responsible and know your would be duty as a would be breeder, so if you choose to breed the dog, can your assure anyone who may end up with an intact puppy from your dog would do the same if they end up having a cryptorchid? If no then there is another cryptorchid in the gene pool. You can see where I am going, the more we allow it the more common it could become.
Also, the reassignment of the "missing" testicle may or may not improve fertility. As old as your pup is now the heat damage has probably been done. Naturally it would not decrease any risk of passing on potential cryptorchidism.

Perhaps it would be best to save your future breeding endeavors for another well lined dog in the future. If not, you could have a spay/neuter clause in puppy sale contracts so that other people down the line can't contribute any bad breeding decisions. All of your dogs puppies would be happy and healthy well bred pups and would live normal lives. I am interested to hear what breeders on the forums would have to add.

Just wanted to offer an opinion, hope it helps you on your path to making your choice no matter what it is!

 

I just went through a horrible issue with my golden retriever. He had only one testicle as well. Brought him for surgery 2 Mondays ago. Came home tues. His other testicle was in his abdominal cavity they had to pull muscles apart to get to it. By Friday he was dripping seroma which is fluid that formed in a pocket near the incision. Saturday morning back to vet as seroma was leaking all down his leg. Another surgery Saturday. Many drugs laser treatment for 5 days sedatives etc. we just got him home yesterday. If I had known this I would have never had him neutered. It's awful. I went to watch schutzhund last nite as we are doing this with our new GSD in a few months and a woman there has a male with one testicle. She told me at 7 years of age an unneutered male has a 1% chance of cancer. In a male unneutered with one testicle it only goes up to 2 %. The vet told me I had to have it out. I won't ever do this again for the 1 % increase. Not saying this can happen to your boy but the surgery is pretty in depth and complications like this can happen. On that note I will not be neutering my GSD or my dane I have now. No way.

 

I don't believe its only a 2% chance if the dog has retained testicle. Are there studies out there to support word of mouth.

I would neuter in this situation without hesitation, I've watched one die of cancer....no thanks!

I am sorry your dog had such severe complications, I know it can be tricky surgery which IMO emphasizes the risk of not doing it. I would hope vets don't push a neuter in this situation unless the alternative carries a higher risk.

 

The reason I responded to this thread was because my dog had retained testicles and his surgery went perfectly. I'm sorry that yours didn't (for the golden retriever), but that is not common surgical outcome even with a crypt. My vet had to spend over an hour looking for the second testicle because he couldn't even find the cord and my dog still recovered very well; in fact he was so good he didn't even have to wear a cone.

 

Testicular torsion is a greater risk than cancer and can kill a dog if not treated immediately by removal of the retained testicle.

The dog should not be bred. You may have the option of keeping the scrotal testicle in place and surgically removing the abdominal testicle. But do not breed the dog.

There is some very thorough information here: Cryptorchidism and Undescended Testicles - all you need to know.

 

Yes this is a genetic problem. And this dog should not be bred. A reputable breeder would not even think about breeding their bitch to your dog no matter who is in its pedigree. So truthfully the only breeders that would be okay to breeding with your dog probably have bitches that aren't worthy of being bred anyways and would not really be a good match for your dog if you truly want to pass on his good genetics.

As to the chances of the dog getting cancer...they're higher. They are not just 1%. Maybe the vet meant that 1% of dogs develop the cancer by 7 years old...but even that seems like a very low number that could not possibly be tracked correctly. The chances of that dog getting cancer are significantly higher than that of a normal dog and if you want him to live a fully healthy life, neutering is the best bet.

 

Slider's didn't drop until he was around 8 months old. In fact that's how I got him ... his original owner returned him to the breeder when it didn't drop, and a short time later it came down, however, the breeder hadn't planned on keeping him and it was my good luck to have been looking for a dog when she was thinking about finding him a home. I forget how old he was when I had him neutered, but he never had any problems.

Mac had a retained testicle, I had it surgically removed and got him a vasectomy.

 

Torsion is a real problem with retained testicles. You won't even know it has happened until dog is in desperate situation.
Your breeder is most likely stretching the truth. No breeder wants to be told that his dog has produced a genetic issue. So just because he says the dog has produced so many babies and no problems, has he talked to EVERY puppy every produced by him as a breeder. This can also be passed genetically by the dam of the litter.

 

Muskeg's link was very informative but if you're still unconvinced, here are some publications if you're interested about scientific studies about cryptorchidism, its genetic basis and it's link to testicular cancer.

- "However, it is likely that testis tumors occur 4-11 times more frequently in cryptorchid than non-cryptorchid males." - Amann et al., 2006: Cryptorchidism and associated problems in animals
- "There is a considerable involvement of genetic factors as demonstrated in inherited X-chromosome-linked anomalies associated with cryptorchidism (Table 1; Saifi and Chandra, 1999). Cryptorchidism is also frequently encountered in domestic animals and shows a significantly higher incidence in some breeds (Cox et al., 1978; Hayes, 1986; Rothschild et al., 1988). If left untreated, cryptorchidism may lead to disturbed spermatogenesis, impaired fertility, and a higher incidence of testicular cancer in later life (15-fold for unilateral, 33-fold for bilateral cryptorchidism), which is likely a result of exposure of the testis to the increased intraabdominal temperatures (Benson et al., 1991; Chilvers and Pike, 1989)." - Klonisch et al., 2004: Molecular and genetic regulation of testis descent and external genitalia development
"The German Shepherd was the only other breed, besides the Boxer, with excessive risk
for SEM...Overall, cryptorchid males had a risk 13.6 times that of normal males for any tumor of the testis (N = 54; R adjusted for age and cell type)... The high risk we observed among German Shepherds for seminomas also corroborates Robinson’s survey of neoplasms among 2,500 military working dogs (Robinson and Garner, 1973)." - Hayes & Pendergrass, 1976: Canine Testicular Tumors: Epidemiological Features of 410 Dogs

My opinion is one based on the idealistic "maintaining the standard and genetic integrity of a breed". Since there is little debate whether the crypto condition is genetic, and there are significant detrimental consequences to the health of the dog if the testicle is not removed, I would say that breeding this dog would be going against this mandate as you would essentially be contributing to the prosperity of a genetic defect.
There is no doubt in my mind that he will be your best friend and I'm sure he will excel in whatever activities you choose to do with him, but perhaps breeding him is not the most responsible or respectable course of action. If you're heart is really set on breeding, most breeders have a guarantee when it comes to genetic problems (most commonly with GSDs, hip dysplaysia). She could rehome your dog with a family who does not have breeding intentions and give you another male from that litter or the next one. I don't think I would be able to do this after having a dog for 6 months, but again, it depends on how set you are on breeding.

 

I appreciate all the advice and replies from everyone.
We are going to wait a few more months to see if by any small chance his other testicle decides to drop down. If not, we are going to get it removed but leave my boy with one.
As far as breeding, we are going to wait a few more years and find another male not related to the bloodline we got our first pup from.