I was really disappointed there was nobody on here that had any knowledge about rectal hernia surgeries. Especially seeing most people on here breed or get dogs through breeders. Just wanted to post that I finally had to go through with my dog's surgery. I never had him neutered because I was certain I would eventually have him mate and have babies, but that never happened and the Vet saw that he was struggling to defecate and blood was in his urine. The vet actually caught all this in time and he was neutered at that vet visit. 

Following his neutering his prostate went back to normal size because prior to that it had enlarged. Ironically after the neutering his rectal area tore during him trying to have a bm. He never had issues before so I was concerned the Vet messed him up and still question that to this day. Chili was 8 yrs old at the time this all happened. It's like no one really gives you specific advice on anything they just tell you to get your dog neutered to avoid cancer and what not. 

I'm here to help anyone else who allows their dog to go unneutered this long. I would say after 5 yrs old time is up and the dog needs to be neutered. It is a very easy procedure for the vet and they check the dog's blood work prior to the surgery. 

As far as the rectal hernia surgery I waited and Chili was on Miralax 1 tsp 2x daily for a year then suddenly he got backed up more than usual and he couldn't go. You could see the enlargement of stool in his bottom area. Basically I should have just done the surgery before I just thought maybe we could correct it. Again no one to talk to about this. I researched, but having someone on here would have been better.

After the surgery which was a morning surgery, took 1 hour and I got him back later in the day Chili's incision seemed good, but a day or 2 after had some fluid called seroma that seeped out for about a week then finally stopped. The incision was to the left of his rectum and was vertical. They had him on vetprofen 2x daily and tramadol 1 xdaily. He did that for a week, but the pain was not over. Chili had surgery pain for 3 to 4 wks following surgery and I stopped the pain meds around that time. I was carrying Chili upstairs for up to the 4 wks due to the pain, but gradually got him going up 1x daily for a week, then 2x daily then he does ok on stairs. Really would also like for the surgery to stick seeing how it always has a chance of failing. The vet and not the specialist suggested he had a back issue during this time of pain which he had never had before and he might need to see a neurologist. I was not happy with that. That of course was not true he was still having pain from the surgery. I of course didn't do that because we weren't sure what it was and couldn't afford that. 

Overall I'm grateful for the surgery and that I went through with it. It cost $2500 plus more for the extra pain meds. Chili definitely is not the same. He has a little trouble going upstairs and doesn't run quite as fast, but I'm still trying to get him better. It hasn't even been 2 months yet. I just never thought I would be so excited for him to have proper bm's. He's pretty much back to his old self and I hope he will continue to thrive and enjoy more life. 

I will update this with any changes that occur, but if everything goes great and continues to get better I'll let you all know too!

Take care!