Easy to fix at your vets. You need to keep an eye on them and explain to the new owners to do so too. Its rare but possible for a piece of bowel to become trapped and twisted in the hernia which is then an emergency, and you need to make the new owners aware of what to look for.

If i had bred them i would be offering to cover all the costs associated with it.

Whether there is a genetic link has not yet been proven or disproven. However it is surely not just rough handling by the bitch. If that was the case then no human babies would be born with umbilical hernias and many many are. Many breeds are associated with a higher prevalence of UH therefore imo there must be a genetic predisposition.

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How many litters have you bred to make such a statement?

Hereditary potential

As a note, umbilical hernias in puppies are a genetic or congenital defect in over 90% of the cases. The disorder is passed from generation to generation just like the color of the coat or the animal’s overall size. Very, very rarely are they caused by trauma or excessive pressures during whelping. Animals that have a hernia or had a surgical repair of a hernia should never be used for breeding. Additionally, those adults that produce puppies with this condition should not be bred again.



Inguinal, Umbilical and Diaphragmatic Hernias in Dogs

Umbilical Hernias are most definitely hereditary. They are a "problem" in Leos. My boy had a small one when born, but it healed on its own, with gentle persuasion with me . Some are a problem and some the dog can live with.

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SOMETIMES YOUR KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOUR IS MERELY AN IDIOT WRAPPED IN TINFOIL