
Our dog had an hernia when we got him (although we didn't notice until we got him home) but he was insured for birth defects under the kennels for 6 months so they said that they would stand the cost but their vet (who had a separate practice a few miles away) had to do the operation.
We had to take him back to the kennels when the vet was doing his rounds and he said yes he thought the hernia needed operating on and that the would do it the week after (I think our dog was only about 4 months old at this point) He had it done and he was fine when we picked him up although he was a bit unsettled for a few nights afterwards.