Why do very young puppies have hernias ?

Just seen 2 very cute pups in rescue and both have hernias,i keep seeing these pups coming through with hernias and wondered if it was a breeding thing or it can happen to the best bred pups out there ??

Umbilical hernias?

I know one is for sure..

I get a LOT of Lhasas and Shih Tzus in work that have umbillical hernias. I wonder if they are more common in those breeds? They seem to be IME.

Jed has an umbilical hernia, we were advised to leave it so he still has it now.

This suggests that some hernias can be inherited, so perhaps they're more common in certain lines
http://www.showdogsupersite.com/kenl...umbilical.html

These are Cav's i will post them in the rescue section when i get on a pc...

Umbilical hernias can certainly happen to the best bred pups out there. They are common in a few breeds, especially Shih Tzu and Bernese Mountain Dogs. I have spoken to several Shih Tzu breeders about umbilical hernias in the breed which are very common and as far as anyone knows there is no bloodline in the UK that is completely hernia free. However I have also seen first hand that they can be caused by the mother being too rough on the cord at birth. I was assisting a friend with her litter and the mother was so rough with the first born puppy's cord that she left a huge gaping hole (this was not there when the pup was first delivered) and the organs were protruding so badly the pup had to be PTS sadly. The next two delivered had small hernias which caused them no problem and the rest born were normal as the mum seemed to get the hang of it. Neither parents of this litter had hernias themselves. So it seems that it can be inherited or caused at birth. Either way a small umbilical hernia is most often not a cause for concern at all and most disappear over time so as long as the vet has said they don't need to be operated on these pups shouldn't be bothered by it at all.