Gundog Training Forum

Anybody experienced this with there dog, the pup in question is 6months old and only one testicle has dropped. Does anyone know if this is a serious long term health problem or whether it affects fertility, a genetic defect or any info at all really?

Thank you,
Lee

Vicky has written advice on this here viewtopic.php?f=14&t=17196

Rascal

Our dog had a ball not dropped, it was removed as a precaution.

If you want the info in more detail, here is the link http://www.gsdhelp.info/repro/cryptofredlanting.html

No, you should not breed from a dog with just one ball descended, nor is it advisable to breed from his litter sisters nor again from his dam- you can check litter brothers and if they have 2 balls they are OK for breeding - but this problem can be carried on the female line too, just no way to check though. I'm assuming of course that his sire is normal.

And why should the litter sisters not be breed from Sgurr

Because ......

Sgurr wrote:this problem can be carried on the female line too, .

Yes - thank you Bogtrotter....I seen that, however there is a load of reasonsa testical does not decend, that does not mean that a sister to an affect dog carries anymore chance of t his happening.

It is believed that the inheritance is a simple dominant/recessive situation - there is not yet a DNA test.
Let's say the dominant gene is B and the recessive b. A dog gets one gene from each of its parents, so a male with BB, Bb or bB will have two balls but a male with bb only has one ball.
You can physically check the sire and if he has two balls, then to give a singleton son, he has to be Bb or bB. The dam doesn't have that sort of balls so for her to have a singleton son, she must be Bb, bB or bb in other words she has to have one b gene. You can check out the other male litter mates, the two balls are BB, Bb or bB any other one ball is bb and should not be bred from. There is not a DNA test as I said earlier, so you can't determine the genotype of the litter sisters, so if you care about breeding out this fault in a line, you don't breed from the girls either in case they are bb and more likely to produce singleton males.

It is of course always a case of checks and balances, pros and cons, when you breed - and this is a widespread problem and doesn't stop a good dog from being a good worker. The health risk is the retained testicle and that can be removed surgically when the dog is neutered.

I know of an instance where a breeder asked on a forum why every male pup in her litter only had one ball - and I answered the question and suggested that she did not breed the dam again. At the dam's next season she was mated to the same stud that produced the first litter.......

People will do what they choose when it comes to breeding but it helps if buyers of pups are aware of the hereditary problems.

Hope this goes some way towards answering your question, craigavonjoe

Is it in the Albert Hall?