Following Esme's (gundog breed) traumatic whelping, at which I had an out of hours vet visit at 5.30 am due to a stuck puppy, which managed to free himself just as the vet arrived (typical) and then a long slow labour which at 5.30 pm resulted in a c-section to remove a huge dead puppy, I'd like some advice on one of the puppies. Pups are now 3 days old.

The said bitch puppy has a huge hernia (I'd add that neither the stud dog or Esme's breeder have had problems with hernias). The vet said my options would be wait to see how she developed (she was the 2nd heaviest at birth and is putting on weight), it may correct itself although with the size of it it seems unlikely and would probably require surgery (probably at 12 weeks+), have pts now or pts later if she fails to thrive. I've opted to wait and see but it is constantly playing on my mind.

I'm also unsure how to approach the people on my waiting list - I can see I'm going to end up keeping the defective pup along with a healthy pup, which obviously isn't ideal.

Anyone have any advice or experience of this situation?

I had a Yorkshire Terrier puppy with a hernia.  Like you, no hernias in the parents.  Indeed, I bred my first litter back in the 70's, and this was the first hernia I had ever seen!  The bitch was extremely rough in cleaning up, and tore the cord completely off.  I thought that I would never stop the blood flow!

I had the repair done at 8 weeks.  So I see no horrors in having a large breed done at 12 weeks.  As your pup is putting on weight, I see no reason to deny her a chance.  My pup went to a pet home at nine and a half weeks after I had the post op check done.  He is much loved, and has no problems.

So sorry, Pedlee--you must be playing over all the options again and again in your mind. Assuming the puppy survives, you will, as you point out, have to keep her or, if she seems healthy enough as time goes on, you may be able to place her free of charge into a knowledgeable pet home one day (with or without future liability for vet bills that may arise from the hernia). You'll probably already have an idea of how likely it is that you can find such a home, weighing up breed, specific requirements of this puppy as well as breed and the capacity of potential owner.

You seem to know in your heart that she won't heal up without intervention. In keeping her you will not only have the usual issues of keeping littermates, but also one that isn't able to rough and tumble in the same way and could require expensive treatment.

There is never any easy way to say it but I am afraid in your situation I would opt for pts now since the wait can only make it far harder for you. 

As long as she appears well and is thriving I would wait and see

If she starts going down hill then there maybe a problem with the bowel caught up in the hernia, observe that she is pooing regularly

Hope all goes well from now on

> wait and see

I would wait & see too. If she thrives and you still feel she needs the surgery later on, then have it done. If you place her in a pet home, endorsed so that she isn't used for breeding, she should still be able to enjoy a normal life. I would want to give her a chance.

As for the people on your waiting list, I would just explain the situation to them and take it from there. Once as prospective puppy buyers, a breeder whose list we were on, phoned and told us the same thing you are dealing with. She said she was going to keep the pup until her surgery, then let her go to a pet home. As we wanted one to show and hopefully breed from, we dropped out at that point although we did buy a pup from her later on.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do. 

I would let her be for the time being.  I would not, however, have any thoughts about keeping her long-term.  I would contact everyone on the waiting list explaining her situation and see who still wants to be considered for such a special girl.  I would sell her with the conditions that I pay for corrective surgery as/when required.  My cousin has a JRT which had a huge hernia at birth and not only did it get better with age, but he required no surgery at all when the time came.  Still has it(11yrs old) but caused him no suffering at all.

I've just come back from the vets with "Miss Hernia" and he said it's not like a standard hernia, either umbilical or inguinal, it's more like the muscle wall hasn't developed. His advice is to do nothing at the moment and to repair it in 4 weeks time. He said it would be better to do it sooner rather than later and she should go on to have a happy and healthy life. I'll approach the people on my list and see what happens......

I would keep her until she can be operated on and once the hernia is repaired and if everything else is normal sell her as strictly a pet at possibly a slightly reduced price.

Once the hernia has been repaired she will no longer be defective as a Pet puppy.

Contact those on your waiting list (if you have more people than pups already) who want a pup solely as a pet and advise them that you will have the puppy operated on and if all is normal then she will be available but not until about 12 -14 weeks.

Point out she will have had the all clear from the vet, be fully vaccinated, training started and will cost a bit less and they will have saved on vaccinations etc also.

Some people will prefer to go elsewhere but others will see the benefits, not only in terms of cost saving but the extra TLC and training etc.

Pup sound like they're doing ok so wait to see if if carries on surving.

You can stroke the hernia back in very gently, this can help with the wall repair if its going to do it spontainiously.  pup would be fully better once operated on, think its only two/three stiches and a very quick op.  If pup looks in pain, try the vets as someone else said, it could be stranaglating, the vet can free this so no panick.

Hope everything starts to go smoother for you.  hugs xx

Just seen your new post on vet visit, hope you feel reasured.

Just to say that with my very first dog, a cavalier, we had exactly the same phone call from the breeder to say that the litter had been born and there were just two.  She was keeping the boy, however the girl had been born with a significant hernia.  We decided between us that as we lived quite near that we would bring the pup home with us at 8 weeks old as normal so we could bond with her and start socialisation, however she would go back and be operated on at the breeders expense at 12 weeks.  This worked really well as we already had built up a good relationship with the breeder, she trusted us, she wrote a contract detailing what she would cover and also if the pup didnt make it through the op or the week after due to any complications we would get a full refund.  But that way we could bring our pup home and start making her 'ours'.  This could be something perhaps that might work with your pup?

Pennygown Generosa (Rosie) lived for 11 long years before dying of heartfailure, she went from heartmurmur appearing to having to be pts in three months so totally unrelated to the hernia.