We moved into a new house this past November, and our 8 year old dog started having issues. Noticed it very shortly after moving in, he would yelp in pain doing our normal wrestling routine.
Took him to the vet, put him on anti inflammatory and he was better for a long time.
Fast forward till about a month ago. Won't eat, can't shit. Take him back to vet (all the symptoms of prostate cancer are there), and they Xray him and find out his stomach is full of rocks, and you can see them going through his intestines, and his prostate was a little inflated but not terrible. Told us there were no signs of cancer, lymph nodes felt normal, but keep an eye on prostate.  
They put him on more stuff and stool softener and he was feeling fine again, and was eating, but never quite shit right again.
This was also when we redid all the floors in the house, and we think he may have got really stressed because he thought we were moving again and ate rocks.  
Took him back to vet this morning and Xray'd again, and prostate has grown significantly, but all the rocks are gone. They gave him a pretty good sized steroid shot and pretty well said at this point they'll continue to do shots as long as it keeps helping and advised us heavily not to put him through surgery removing prostate.
So question is, could've the prostate just been agitated and inflamed by passing rocks? And maybe a chance this will go away? Or was he eating rocks because he knew something was going on with his body and maybe that's some sort of normal dog thing to do? Vet didn't have any more signs of cancer but also sounds like they don't have a good way to check.
This is my best good buddy, comes to work with me, spend all day/night together, rides everywhere with me. I'm heartbroken at the thought of losing him early still in his prime years, and my other dog who is elderly will likely not be around much longer if he passes either.
Dog on right having the issues. White dog is also my best friend but he's getting old and we were expecting him to start having issues, not the black/brown one.
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Update:
Took him to a vet that specializes in acupuncture after posting his X-rays here. The vet was almost able to see him immediately. We also scheduled an appointment with a animal hospital that could do advance screenings, but they were 3 weeks out.
Our vet had 20 years experience, and is a wonderful lady. Very upfront and a no bullshit honesty. We took him in for back issues that led to acupuncture, and it helped nearly immediately. He stopped shaking, became calm, and his spine went back into his body. I am a believer in that. I always thought it was some hippy voodoo but after reading more about it online, it really seems legit. Made a follow up appointment for next week and we were on the way.
Well, the next day, he got worse. And worse and worse. We had him laying on puppy pads, he had no control over anything. Would not eat, even treats or any human food.
Vet was able to see us right away again. This time we did some advance diagnostics and blood work. His liver and kidney numbers came back high, as well as phosphorus (which may be why he stopped eating, high phosphorus makes everything taste bad).
Decided to keep him there over night while they pumped him full of fluids. First thing was he was 7% dehydrated (with 12% explained to me as being fatal), so got him hydrated first. Then to flush out his system and phosphorus. After the first night, he was much better, and actually ate. But his numbers were still high, so we decided to do another night. She was fairly confident they could bring his numbers down to manageable levels and he'd get some life back and just be on a special diet.
The second night, his heart gave out. He was coughing up this fluid and was having trouble breathing. She could've gave him stuff to get fluid out of lungs, but she was working with dehydration as well and didn't think it would work. So only fair thing to do was put him down.
This has been an emotional rollercoaster. I loved that little guy. Not going to lie, I've been crying all day. But the vet was great, she's in a rural location so we went outside and listened to the birds and got some time to say goodbye. Always thought I'd be tough enough to put a dog down with lead if the time came to where the needing be done, but that's such a terrible way when the shot works as well as it does. Quick, and painless while we held him tight.
Looking back, we're wondering if he's always had issues. When we picked him up at the pound, he was a frail little rag doll. We took him understanding he might not make it long, but we'd try and give him a good home.
He made it just about 4 years with us. He gained huge muscle mass, was healthy and the most personality I've ever seen in a dog. Up until a few months ago we'd go on 5 mile walks, sometimes more, and he was happily trotting along.
The decline was quick, much quicker than we were prepared for. Makes it hard, because of how happy and healthy he was just a short time ago.
So I guess if there's a lesson, going forward we're going to be more careful what we give for treats, as some of the stuff could be cause for kidney failure. It could've also been a bite from something, he had a 20 acre playground or so out here in the middle of the country. Also going to do blood tests a little more regularly to maybe get some early detection on issues a dog may be having.
Thanks for the help and thoughts/prayers in this thread. You guys are great.

Here is an article.  Looks like, absent cancer, that the issues and remedies are similar to humans.

https://www.pawdiet.com/blog/canine-enlarged-prostate/

I would get some of this from PetCo or Chewey or somewhere and give it a try.  And make sure that his food is Zinc rich.  Would not recommend high dose Zinc supplements for a dog, though.

https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/petalive-prospet-liquid-drops-natural-herbal-supplement-canine-prostate-health-for-pets-2-fl-oz-3170574?cm_mmc=PSH-_-CNX-_-CCY-_-PME-_-PET-_-AQU-_-0-_-CONNEXITYSHOPPING-_-Product_Listing_Ads-_-0&cnxclid=16227468634473396967410090301008005

Is he neutered or intact?

I don't know about Petco but my wife says Chewy is solid.

Best wishes for  your buddy's recovery!

Neutered from the age of 3-4, was a pound puppy and they made us prove that it was done within so many days. Which is sounds like that may have caused this

Thanks! Forgot to mention he was on antibiotics for awhile too, I think for an entire month, they said a bacterial infection in there is hard to reach. Going to try those drops and high zinc food, and not seen anything about that yet while dr. googling.

Wifey is a Veterinarian. Her response, based on your initial post is below. You are welcome to shoot me a PM if you have any questions.

I would tell him the dog needs a better physical exam.  Prostate cancer is very rare in dogs.  It sounds more like a possible herniated disk if I just had to guess based on that bit of information.

The should be able to feel if a prostate is enlarged or not on a rectal, a neutered dog should not have a prostate you can feel.  If they are truly seeing an enlarged prostate on an x-ray, that needs further testing right away because that is never normal. It should be non-existent in a neutered dog. Usually if they are cancerous there is mineral in them on the x-ray.  The dog should not just be given some injection and sent on it’s way.

Do you have a digital copy of the x-ray you can post? Maybe a good cell phone pic of the image?

Thank you for this information. We have nothing bad at all to say about our vet, great people. But... they are the only vet in town in a town of around 1000 people in the middle of farm country. Their work is probably >90% livestock. And the occasional farm dog that comes in, well, farmers would normally have a cap on what they'd spend.
Based on this info, we're going to make the trip into Sioux Falls where they have more capabilities with domestic animals for a second opinion.
Will see if I can get the xrays tomorrow.
Whatever they did to him today seems to be helping a bunch. He's laying down with his back legs closed, he hasn't been able to do that in awhile. He pooped a bunch, still not normal. Got him to eat some applesauce with some ground flax seed mixed in.
Thanks for the kind responses.

?? Prayers he pulls through OK

1st xray was with all the rocks in his system, second one was just the other day. I really don't have any idea what I'm looking at other than the super obvious. Going mostly off of what vet was saying.

Her response:

I do not see an enlarged prostate. I see a mineralized disk with bridging in the spine. This dog has a back issue.

My experience has been the opposite. I've only had one dog who had prostate problems and he was intact. Bloody discharge, straining to pee. He was 6 years old. The vet said to neuter him and it fixed the problem and it never came back.

Looks and sounds like the case.  

Then, if it were my dog, I would first seek out an animal chiropractor/alternative med Vet.  I have seen chiropractic and acupuncture work well on horses, and heard it works for dogs.  Certainly cheaper and less invasive than any kind of surgery and associated recovery.  

I did a quick google vicinity Sioux Falls and found this candidate:

https://staging.vizivet.com/windhorsevetintegrative/#testimonials

Think we can see what she's talking about now. Thank you and your wife for taking time to help a stranger and his dog. This certainly changes how we're looking at this. And thank you everyone else for taking the time to respond. Will be paying this one forward.

We called the animal hospital in Sioux Falls yesterday still thinking prostate, and earliest they can see him for ultrasound is June 22nd. So now we can check out the chiropractor/acupuncture stuff, maybe they can get us in sooner before vet hospital and sort this out. Have seen successful back surgeries on dogs before, so either way have a much better feeling about the outcome. Money isn't a concern with this little guy, just want him out of pain asap.

Wow, it is pretty incredible. That place lists that they treat pretty much exactly what we now think is wrong with our guy. Thanks!

Have to love Arfcom..........given all the “entertaining” crap on GD, we are always helping each other

@RRANRA hope this is your buddy’s issue and gets resolved fast. Dobie we had back in the mid 1990s had an issue, ran my hand down her back, she buckled in pain and laid down when I touched her mid to rear back.  Had to carry her to the truck to take to the vet, he diagnosed inflamed joint in her back, she got meds, it never showed up again.

Update in OP.

I am so sorry you lost your pup. My condolences to you and your family.

OP, thanks for the update.  I've been wonderin' and prayin'.

You gave the pup a great life that he wouldn't have otherwise had a chance at, and gave him the best end you could.  Try as we might, we can not work miracles; but we can do the best, right things.  Wish everyone were like you.

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Condolences, sorry to hear the update

OP, I just read your update. I'm very sorry to hear your pal has left you. At least he's not in any discomfort anymore.

It's getting dusty in here.