Has anyone had a pup that has had a non-hereditary umbilical hernia? And if so did they have to have surgery or did it fix itself?
Thanks

Hernias do not 'fix themselves'. Sometimes, if they're very small and you're lucky, you can push them back and the muscles will close with a 'pop' and stay shut. Otherwise what you see is what you get. Small ones, which are just a little piece of abdominal fat poking through the unsealed abdominal wall, will stay as they are and do no harm. Larger ones - due to the hole in the abdominal muscles being larger - might also have a loop of bowel trapped, which is a serious health risk and will certainly need surgical intervention.

But none will heal all by themselves.

Thank you, it's very tiny at the moment, she's 7 weeks old. Fingers crossed eh.

This article may be helpful: http://www.showdogsupersite.com/kenlclub/breedvet/umbilical.html

The article is by Mary C. Wakeman, D.V.M A vet and breeder, there are other interesting articles herre: http://www.showdogsupersite.com/featx.html

One of my dogs had one, it was only small, but when she decided to tear off a long strip of vet bed at 10 months old and swallow it whole, the vet fixed it at the same time as removing the vetbed! It was a nice bill at £1,046. Main thing is, we got her back safely.
The breeder should have the pup vet checked anyway and then act on what the vet says. If they feel it is fine and doesn't need operating on, then great. If it does, then the breeder should be the one to have this done, not just for the cost, but also cope and recover more quickly. Moving home is very stressful for a puppy and I'd always take a new pup to my own vet shortly after purchase for a second vet check (for peace of mind) and for more positive socialisation at the surgery before vaccination.

Good luck with your new pup if you decide to take him/her.

we currently have 2 dogs with small umbilical hernias,one is our tibetan spaniel bitch which i bred and the other is our king charles spaniel.neither are bothered by them and the vet has said they are now so small as to not pose a problem.obviously when they were pups they looked bigger in proportion to the rest of the body ,but as theyve grown they have stayed pea size.certainly from the people in both breeds ive spoken to,small umbilical hernias are quite commonplace and the most common type to be corrected surgically are inguinal hernias(the groin),which are dangerous especially to breeding bitches.hope this is of some help.of course if ever your dog needs to "go under" for anything ,you can always get it fixed then.roy.

That's great news. He is a well experienced breeder and I trust his judgement that it is small enough not to be a problem. I think if she did need an op later on he would cough up for it because he's a good breeder and a close family friend too I'm just trying to prepare myself for the worst situation by getting as much info as possible. Thanks for all the info

Just wanted to say thank you to everyone that posted. Her umbilical hernia has popped back in so everything is all well. She's a great little pup.

> It was a nice bill at £1,046. Main thing is, we got her back safely.
>

OMG!!!!!