Not fully neutered or something else?

I *think* that they can ejaculate, they just shoot blanks.

Yep, Im pretty sure they can. Its just the fluid that the sperm comes out in, minus the sperm

 Hm okay. It was so random though haha! I guess he's just 'growing up'. He humped me once, never again. :| There's other reasons dogs hump besides dominance though, isn't there? He looked like he was scared of me afterwards, which I didn't get because I wasn't yelling at him or even mad, just shocked.

 I think the first time they really get into it, it scares them.  Confusion?  After a few times, it's fun.

Apparently, the historical eunuchs guarding the harems were capable of active socializing.

 My parents Shih Tzu, Gizmoe (rip) used to get so into it, that his thing became stuck. We used to have to dunk his stick into a dixie cup of cold water. Looking back, it was hilarious!

Neutered male dogs have even been known to tie with a female in heat!!!

You are absolutely sure he was neutered (both testicles found and removed)?  One of my sisters adopted a "neutered" dog, but it turned out that his testicles just never descended.  Undescended testicles are at a high risk of cancer and should be removed by the time the dog is 2-years-old. 

My sister lost that dog to testicular cancer because the rescue group told her the animal had been neutered - an erroneous assumption.  If the surgery had been performed when she first got the dog, there is an extremely good chance that no cancer would have developed or that it could have been completely removed (cured). 

As it turned out the dog was not even able to heal from exploratory surgery to investigate a mass (the cancer-ridden testicles).  The very surprised vet removed the testicles, but the dog's immune system had already been destroyed and he was in a great deal of pain, so he was put down.

There is a test than can be done to determine whether a male dog still has one or more testicles.

Note:  Never try to pull a "tied" pair apart.  That can seriously (even fatally) damage the female. 

 Janet, do you know what the test is called and if it can be mail ordered, or has to be done through a vet?

jennie_c_d

 Janet, do you know what the test is called and if it can be mail ordered, or has to be done through a vet?

In horses, you can pull blood & have the testosterone levels checked to make sure that a gelding was not "proud cut" or to see that the stallion has decent levels before spending your money on a stud fee with low levels. 

I suspect that you'd be able to do the same thing with a dog.

ETA:  I just looked it up, & you can have blood drawn to check testosterone levels in dogs as well.

 Interesting. My friend adopted a dog "assumed neutered" and is having doubts. I didn't know there was a test or I would have already suggested it. I have *very* little experience with owning male dogs, LOL.

 I would think that you could also collect an ejaculate sample and check for the presence of sperm. I know of several males that still tie with females even though they've been neutered. I also know that a newly neutered male can still produce young. I'm not sure how long they are fertile after but I would guess up to about 2 or 3 weeks from anecdotal evidence. I've seen proof in the form of puppies.

 I'm not sure why I never got emails for these updates. o.o Guess it went to the junk mail. Anyway thanks guys! He was neutered at 6 weeks but my mom had talked to the vet a while back about getting a sonogram or something like that. I'll see if she still thinks we should.

jennie_c_d

Janet, do you know what the test is called and if it can be mail ordered, or has to be done through a vet?

I haven't found any name for the test other than measuring the testosterone level in the blood.  A neutered dog should have levels much less than an intact dog. 

I doubt the test can be done without the aid of a vet to draw some blood.  Don't know if this is an in-office test or something the vet has to send off.

Did find this in answer to a person who had a dog whose neuter was "difficult" and which subsequently had "high" testosterone levels:

http://www.pets.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=54512

"Testosterone can come from three sources: testicular tissue, rarely adrenal tissue or exogenous source (testosterone cream or injectable). A testosterone-secreting tumor originates out of tissue that has the ability to secrete testosterone. So yes it both the theory of a retained testicle and a tumor are both plausible. The answer may be found through an evaluation of the testosterone level and some additional testing.

Each reference lab is a little different so I might be better be able to discuss his level if I know the units and the normal range for testosterone from your veterinarian's lab. If pg/ml then a normal intact dog (two testicles located in the s*c*ro*t*u*m) is 400-10000. A castrated dog would be at <50pg/ml. Some other laboratories go by different ranges. Often the laboratory has ranges for the various possibilities of cryptorchid states. Remember though, ranges are ranges as testosterone levels are by no means an exact means of diagnosis of anything other than the fact that testosterone is indeed in this pets system at the time of blood draw.

Typically the levels for a single retained cryptorchid testicle (one not locate in the ***) will be less than a intact male dog (one that has two testicles located in the ***). Some testicles will compensate for the loss of the other and might increase to a near normal level, but it would be not likely for it be higher than a normal intact dog range. Also if there was only 'part of the testicle' remaining, then it would be even more likely that it should be below a normal intact dog level. So if by the statement of the level being 'so high' means that it is higher than a normal intact dog, then I would tend to lean towards the interpretation of the original veterinarian and be concerned about a testosterone secreting tumor.
A talented ultrasonographer may be able to shed the light needed for this. Unfortunately either situation that have been proposed by the two vets requires surgery. Retained cryptorchid testicles have an approximately 80% chance of becoming a malignant tumor and testosterone secreting tumors should also be removed. It is possible that both vets are right too - there may have been retained testicular tissue which has become a tumor.

One note of the first veterinarian's surgery. For a normal anatomically gifted pet, the neuter surgery (castration) is not one given to leaving testicular tissue. Barring something very unusual, it would almost require an active decision to leave testicular tissue. Thus if testicular tissue was left behind then this would be a high suspicion for congenital deformation leading to the 'difficulty' of the neuter. Some dogs (and even people) can be born with an 'extra' testicle. The cells that are meant to become a testicle somehow get a little separated an a separate 'testicle' or testicular tissue forms. So however this occurs, I would not want the first veterinarian to be 'blamed' for something which likely would not be her/his fault.

Christopher A. Lee, D.V.M., C.V.L.S."

Note:  In the case of my sister's dog the tumors secreted estrogen rather than testosterone.  Over time the estrogen levels destroyed his bone marrow.  Warning signs were that the dog developed large nipples and marked in the house - indicating both high estrogen levels and testosterone levels perhaps too high for a neutered dog.

ETA:  Why is s*c*r*o*t*u*m a bad word? 

janet_rose

Neutered male dogs have even been known to tie with a female in heat!!!

Errr... yep, just ask Oliver . I've got an older rescued female in the house that I'm housetraining for adoption and she's in heat and ... well, he's found out that he can have a girlfriend. He freaked out when he realized he was "stuck". I had no idea this could occur... now I do :) I am one hundred percent sure he's neutered as I had it done!

punkchica321

I'm not sure why I never got emails for these updates.

Every time you visit the thread be sure that you have "Post Notification: On".  This is on the line just above the top post.