12 weeks ago our beautiful chihuahua gave birth to three gorgeous little girl puppies.
When the puppies were 6 weeks old, another of our chihuahuas grabbed the smallest of the litter and pinned her to the floor, to make her submiss. The puppy sustained no injuries from this but was so frightened that she screamed so much it caused a very tiny umbilical hernia. We rushed her to the vets straight after this happened as a precaution and the vet told us that she had caused the hernia herself through the trauma of screaming (we take our bitches and their puppies to the vets for a post partum check the day they are born and then again at 2 and 4 weeks old and the hernia was never there before)
Now at 12 weeks old, she still has the hernia but it is very tiny, it is a little piece of fatty tissue that pops out every now and then and we just pop it back in. The vet we saw the night the hernia was sustained said that the hernia will heal itself by the time she is 5/6 months and should not cause any problems with her in the future, she told us that we could breed said puppy when she is an adult as the hernia was caused by trauma and is therefore not a natural, congenital defect.
However today we took her to the vets for her second vaccination (she is 12 weeks old today) and a different vet at the same veterinary surgery has told us that though the hernia was not present at birth and will not need surgery she must not be bred from as she could pass hernias on to her puppies.
I have come home from the vets and done lots of research on the internet regarding hernias and it seems that what she has is not a "true hernia" but everything I have read about breeding and hernias is very conflicted.

What do experienced breeders think? I do not plan on breeding the puppy with the hernia, but now I am concerned about wether or not the mother or her sisters should be bred from? Is her hernia a fault? Was her umbilical a weak spot because she was young or because of genetics? Can any of these puppies or the mother be bred from in the future?

Any polite, useful comments will be greatly appreciated and Thanks for taking the time to read and reply

hi, sorry to hear about your problems, i cant be much help realy, i always thought all hernias were passed down from the parents and didnt know there were other types, do know that you should not breed from a bitch with one due to been passed down but think also it may have something to do with the preasure on the bitches tummy when carrying a litter can cause hernia to get worse (i may be totally wrong, just my thought), would probably say the pup would be better off been spayed when right age and just live as a pet just to be on the safe side xx

Our Darla has a hernia, caused by her operation at birth to pop her intestines back inside. Obviously its not genetic and its never bothered her or got any bigger so we've never had it operated on, although we do keep an eye on it for changes. Darla was never for breeding from anyway, but, all things considered, had we been thinking of taking a litter from her, the hernia would have gone against her and we probably wouldnt have.

Hmm, dont think that helped ya much, lol, sorry!

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I was told that 99% of the time hernias are inherited and that it would be best not to keep/breed from a bitch with one, so I've stuck to this rule.

The pup must of had a weakness there, because screaming doesn't make a hernia appear. it may have just helped push it through the weaker part of the abdomen.

Thanks to everyone who replied, I appreciate you taking the time. We have decided to spay Mummy dog and endorse the puppies now, but I'm glad to hear we have made the right choice!

I wouldn't of bred her myself. I'm not a vet but I can't see how screaming could cause a hernia. They can also get worse my friends smooth boy had a hernia that wasn't noticeable at Birth by the time he was 12 weeks it was the size of a ping pong ball and was repaired but came back at 8 months and he had to have another repair (he has been neutered)

Good decision though! I'm a bit protective of the breed

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