Castration conundrum

by Charlotte
(England )

My wonderful Coton, Roger, has a retained testicle. He is currently eighteen months old and we are so confused about whether to have him fully castrated or simply to remove the retained testicle. We got him when he was five months old. He was so nervous at first but has blossomed into a funny, sweet, adorable, happy, loving pet.

He is brilliant with me, my husband and our daughter but still suspicious of our son who is in his twenties and has tried hard to become friends. (Neither our son or our daughter live at home full time any more so it is a bit confusing for Roger.) He has some good human friends but they are all girlfriends of mine. Men, apart from my husband, are avoided like the plague, especially when they come into the house and he's also very wary of children.

On the other hand he's fantastic with other dogs of all shapes and sizes. We've been told that the retained testicle must be removed as there's a risk it might become cancerous and that it's better to remove the other one as well to be on the safe side. I'm terrified that he will be hugely traumatised by the operation. I'm also frightened that removing all this testosterone from a nervous dog will damage the fun-loving Roger we cherish so much. We have considered removing the retained testicle and leaving the 'good' one but he's still have to go through the operation. And then we might consider getting him a doggy friend in the future in which case he probably should be fully castrated.

He doesn't bite, growl or display any sexual behaviour whatsoever apart from lifting his legs on walks. Any help or advice would be very much appreciated. Sorry to go on for so long but I feel we have to do the best we possibly can for Roger.