Beth, although this article addresses the frequency of prostate problems in Dobes, the text gives a very good general overview, including the information about reducing testosterone’s effects on the prostate with neutering.

http://www.workingdogs.com/vcprostrate.htm

It also states:

QUOTE: Castration does not, however, protect against prostatic cancer, which occurs with similar frequency in castrated and intact male dogs. END

You will see, though, that the text supports neutering.

i had to neuter my male GSD last summer (he turned 4 in december). the original symptom was urinating blood, and the original diagnosis following ultrasound was a cyst in the prostrate. they put him on some strong antibiotics, but after two weeks the reduction in size was minimal. of course, their immediate suggestion was neutering - even before the two week course of meds. then again, most vets will recommend neutering to cure a cold (sorry, exaggeration but not that far from the truth in most cases, especially in the city).

i consulted another vet - my brother (who unfortunately lives 800 miles away) - who is NOT a fan of neutering for non-medical reasons. instead of relying on the ultrasound, he aspirated the prostrate and found that it wasn't a cyst, but that the prostrate was filled with blood. he cultured it - no infection. just blood.

his diagnosis was that for some reason the blood vessels in the prostrate had ruptured (ultimately due to excessive testosterone production) and yes, unfortunately, the only way to stop it was with neutering - either chemical or "physical." we were eating lunch while my dog was still out on the exam table, and since he wasn't breeding stock either, i told him "let's do it, before i change my mind."

bottom line is sometimes it might be necessary, but try to do everything you can to find the cause before you make any decisions.

IF the problem is an enlarged prostate (not infection just enlarged) then there are drugs that may help. Proscar may give you time until you decide- it doesn't work on all dogs and is expensive but it may help the dog while you look into your options. I seem to remember reading about a newer drug also that works similarly- sorry forgot the name.

As far as neutering lessening the risks of prostate cancer- the opposite is actually true- castrated dogs have a greater risk. I am surprised the vet said neutering would lessen that risk! Neutering will of course remove the risk of testicular cancer.

Many thanks to everyone for your informative responses including your own personal experience, and also several excellent links. While reading through replies, it struck me why the vet feedback bothered me so much (I knew I was bothered, but wasn't 100% sure why). The vet recommended NO additional testing or X-rays or anything to try to pinpoint the cause in a more specific way.

This just solidifies my initial reaction - get a second opinion from the holistic vet. She is so knowledgeable, and I just have a feeling she will recommend other testing before just "assuming" that a neuter is the magic solution. Like I said before, I have no problem with neutering. I would just like a higher comfort level than I have today about what specific problem we will actually be solving by doing that.

Off to read links now....thanks again to everyone who has taken time to help and give feedback.

Beth

I'm very glad we "pushed" for an early on "second opinion" appointment with the holistic vet http://www.drkarenbecker.com before neutering our dog, and then figuring out if that worked to solve the problem.

Dr. Becker had not 1, not 2 or 3, but FIVE alternative non-invasive therapies to try before we bring out the knife, to potentially bring down the swelling in the prostate. More details on her recommendations once Gary and Ferguson get home.

Mean time, and I thank Ed, Cindy and the Leerburg community "at large" for this, she commented postively on Ferguson's overall health. His coat, teeth, weight, attitude, eyes, etc. were all awesome. (He's been on raw food similar to the Leerburg plan since he was just over 1 year old). She also commented on his spine, which is a standard "check" whenever she evaluates a new dog coming into her practice. Her comments about that amazed me.

She is obviously breeder friendly, and working dog friendly. When she checked Ferguson's spine, she said that not a single vertabrae was out of alignment. She raved about that, saying that 90% of the SchH sport dogs (and other similar sport/working dogs) she treats have at least 1 minor alignment problem. She credits raw feeding for that, and a good trainer/helper for that. She said it's quite clear that this dog hasn't been "jammed" by his helper(s) and she is quite supportive of everything we are doing with him from a training and feeding perspective.

I'm SO glad we held out for a second opinion rather than running for the Neuter Nife.

Beth

In case anyone is interested, or has feedback on this treatment course, below are links to the two products our male is currently taking (1 pill of each, twice daily).

We will be going back for a prostate re-check in one month.

HP8 Herbal Prostate:

http://www.nutritiongeeks.com/details.asp?ProductID=15322&ProdgroupID=15322&gclid=CIjRs7mBwIoCFTE1JAod6HW2lg

Tyler Prostate PhytoNutrition:
http://www.ritecare.com/prodsheets/TYL-271001.html

Side note, one of our training compatriates who works in the human medical profession said to me on Saturday "Lot's of men have prostate enlargement issues. How many of them get neutered as the solution?" LOL - the Holistic vet said basically the same thing.

Beth

Someone I know is having trouble with thier dog and an infected prostate. The first thing the vet wanted to do was nueter. This is a show dog, so they are hesitant to do this.

Beth, did the herbal remedies helped your dogs prostate at all? What other treatments did she suggest, and do you have any links to holistic treatments I could send her?

I sent her the links above already, but she asked if they have helped yet. I know it's been a year since this was posted, but I'm hoping you can tell me how it all worked out.

Thanks.

We had prostate trouble with a stud dog. We first noticed it because of difficult urination. We took him to a local vet who treated him for infection, which didn't work. We then took him to our repro vet who discovered the prostate issue, and treated him with a different antibiotic, which seemed to work as the prostate DID shrink somewhat. However, at this point when we tried to collect from him there was blood in the semen. The repro vet tried all manner of treatment for us (one of their vet techs had recently bought a pup from us by this dog, and they were pretty fond of him) but nothing seemed to work. We tried for weeks to find a solution; anything besides neutering. Ultimately and sadly, fearing the possibility of cancer or other health issues, we neutered him and harvested his testicles. This happened when he was 6, and he is now almost 8 and has had no further trouble with his prostate or urination. I don't know if this is unusual or not because we had not had a prostate issue this severe until this dog; but for us, neutering seemed to solve the problem.