Neutering - One or two testicles?

[Rassy]

We have had our 18 month old border collie for 2 months - he was rehomed from a family whose personal circumstances had changed and could no longer keep him. He has one undescended testicle which does need to be removed. The vet has said we don't need to remove both and we can't decide what to do! His op is booked for the 7th January

He is a lovely dog but can be nervous/jumpy of traffic and other noises especially at night. When on the lead can lung and bark at other dogs but fine with them when not on the lead. He has been around a couple of bitches on heat and didn't try to have a go at them!

Any advice appreciated!

I only removed the undescended one on my collie and would do the same again if in the same situation.

He was also nervous and I did leave it until he was three BUT we had yearly scans to check it was still healthy.

Where do you live - city or country? Basically, how many dogs are around you? The proportion of dogs in our local park (city) has skyrocketed and when the bitches came into heat last time they must have all done it at once and even 3-y-o previously perfectly behaved dogs who hadn’t reacted before went bananas. Mine was only a year old and I had him neutered after having been resistant to that, because he was a danger to himself and couldn’t go off the lead. I know people with older dogs who either did it or seriously considered it too. So basically, if your dog isn’t around hundreds of other dogs on a regular basis then I would perhaps wait as long as I could while he’s settling in and building up his confidence, but if he is going to be in a place where loads of other dogs live I would go ahead.

With a nervous dog, I'd keep one ball (but ask about a vasectomy for the remaining one?)

Thank you all for the advice.

Sorry to hijack thread but I am in a similar situation were ddog has one undescended testicle. The vet gave me the impression they open the dog up and have a rummage around until they find it. I am getting very nervous about this - he is super active and loves to run in the park. Is the recovery quick? Can they ultrasound to find the offending testicle so the operation is quicker? He is 8 months old and I'd like to leave it as long as possible as he can be a bit timid. Thanks in advance.

@MagicMabel We haven't been offered an ultrasound. The vet said she could feel the undescended testicle.

@MagicMabel recovery does depend on where it is. I have had two collies with undescended testicles. One was just above where it should have been the other dog was more deeply hidden. The recovery time was not too long on either case. I dont think it takes the vet long to find them in either case.

I had them on restricted exercise for 10 days whilst they had stitches in and then after that gentle exercise for a while . It was not a trauma and easily managed.

@PollyRoulson Did the vet remove the descended testicle as well?

No I left the descended testicle with both dogs.

The retained testicle can become cancerous. And obviously the dog is still fertile. It is to all intents and purposes an unneutered dog if just the visible testicle is removed.

We only removed the retained testicle on our Labrador. He is scared of everything & lunges and goes for some dogs when on lead. Our behaviorist was pleased to hear we had kept his one testicle as she said he would struggle to cope in the world without the testosterone