Hi Patti, Sorry you're having problems. I'm not a dr and haven't had any male doggies in years, so I was looking around to see if I could find something that might be similar to what your lil guy is experiencing. I may be way off and I certainly recommend a vet visit, because you don't want to be guessing and possibly risking his life if it is serious and it sounds like it is to me.
Prostatitis
Q: Have a one and a half year old male Yorkie with prostatitis according to a vet. What treatment would you recommend ? Would neutering be needed on a emergency basis? A: Prostatitis is usually treated with antibiotics. It is generally from a bacterial infection of the prostate gland leading to inflammation. This causes pain when urinating and may cause lameness or stiffness in the rear legs. It can be a serious illness, sometimes leading to septicemia (blood borne infection). It is best to treat with an antibiotic that has been chosen based on a culture of the prostatic fluid but veterinarians often choose an antibiotic based on the likelihood it will work for prostate infection since culture and sensitivity takes a few days to get results from and adds to the expense of treating the condition. If the antibiotic doesn't seem to be working it is best to insist on a culture, though. Neutering probably doesn't help much with acute prostatitis but it may be helpful if chronic prostatitis is present and it definitely helps if there is benign hypertrophy of the prostate. The latter condition is more common as dogs get older and would be unusual in a young dog. In some instances prostate infections abscess. This is much more serious, does respond best to surgical drainage and is at least a pressing problem, if not an outright emergency. Castration is a good idea when treating prostatic abscesses but the abscess must still be treated properly as it will not go away with castration alone. While I haven't seen much mention of it in the medical texts,
I really think that prolonged exposure to females in heat, especially when mating does not occur, can lead to painful enlargement of the prostate that really isn't an infection. Just inflammation. This does seem to respond to castration or to limiting exposure to females in heat. Good luck with all of this. Mike Richards, DVM
Male Dog Problems and Care