Inguinal Hernias

Ok, so is an inguinal hernia hereditary and does it come from mom or dad? I took 2 pups in for vet checks and one has a small hernia, though the vet said she may not need treatment and the tissue may strengthen as she gets older and basically fix itself, and it just needs to be watched. Just wondering if I need to fix and place mom or dad or both, as I don't want a repeat if I can avoid it. Thanks!

Thats a good question that I would like to know more about as well although it has never happened to any of our pups. From what I have always heard most hernias are caused by cutting the umbilical cord to close to the stomach, but don't quote me on that.

Inguinal hernia is a different thing...It's a hernia in the lower part of the belly...down low between the legs...

Coco was born with one,that was repaired by her breeder..it was a small one,but they fixed it anyway...She's had 3 litters of puppies and none have had it at all...Her belly had held wonderfully too!

I was worried about it when I got her but I talked it over to my vet and he said sometimes they are just random...

Well......my vet says they are from the mother and that they are hereditary. He also said yes a small one that doesn't grow or get bigger can strengthen itself and go away....but he also says not to breed. If they have one on each side he says to keep an eye on them til 1 yr of age and if no better then spay & surgery. Many vets have different opinions on this. But he says don't breed them. I have never had a pup born with one, but I got a pup in trade once that had 2 of them and she was spayed and placed in a pet home. That is Zelda that is on here and she belongs to Kelli Funk now!

She only has a small one on the one side. My vet said this morning that they can be hereditary but not always. This was a pup who was stuck and had to be pulled by the vet at birth. He said there was a possibility that she was basically stretched out too far and could've resulted in the hernia which is basically either a tear or weakening in the wall at that point. But she is also a climber and can climb out of ex-pens, just caught her doing it the other day, so lots of unnatural pulling and stretching. I did not notice anything wrong at 7 weeks at all (when I gave their shots and went over them with a fine tooth comb), but now it is slightly noticeable but only if you are actually looking for it. Of course she has only started climbing these last couple weeks, lol, I would come home from work and she would be roaming the house. At first I was thinking the boys weren't putting her back up in the mornings or something, but she got busted the other day at the very top!

That is exactly how coco is,she's a climber and probably like that as a puppy too..lol..I called my vet shortly after reading the first responce,and asked him if he thought it was a bad idea for me to breed coco again and he said since she hasn't had any puppies with hernias he's not worried about it and neither should I be.

To my understanding there are two types of inguinal hernia's direct (tissue degeneration- acquired)and indirect (congenital- inherited)
Inherited inguinal hernia's appear in the puppies shortly after birth. Acquired inguinal hernia's usually appear in middle age. Vets don't really worry about the acquired form but they do worry about the inherited form which may grow back later on especially if the supportive tissue becomes weak again.

It used to be believed this condition was recessive but further research said it is polygenic (sum of parents dna with additive affect mimicking incomplete penetrance). Researchers have now found this condition is passed on in the autosomes in cells with incomplete penetrance (fails to show even though its dominant allowing it to be carried) and sex influence (affects both through epigenetically silenced genes) looking at the epigenome......during translation the inactive cells are "scrubbed" to delete extra information but the information contained in the active cells are passed on which includes all the proteins (amino acids) of the parents which direct cells how to behave, when and where leaving only the active imprinted genes. When cells are imprinted all the active genome and epigenome (chemical tags to combat environmental influences) are copied to be passed on. Once the imprinted cells are left they start to recombine or cross over...sort of a tug of war. Researchers have found there is certain information switched on in eggs, off in sperm and vice versa by studying methyl groups (high= off, low=on). Here are two examples in which either the egg or sperm's imprinted cells are off:

A dam's imprinted gene is switched off: A gene copy inherited from the dam (dam's egg) that is causing a condition is always switched
off. The gene copy remains active when passed to offspring through the sperm. Freckles (generation 1) has a genetic condition caused
by a faulty gene copy she inherited from her sire. Only the faulty message translated from her sire's faulty gene is expressed. The working copy from her dam, is switched off as it passed to her through her dam's egg. Two of Freckles offspring, Sparkles and Max (Generation 2) inherited only the faulty copy from Freckles.They also received a working copy of the gene from their sire but neither of them have the condition. This is because this gene copy is switched off when inherited from the dam. Therefore the only copy of the gene which is active in Sparkles and Max is the working copy inherited from their sire so they are unaffected. Both Sparkles and Max have a 50% chance of passing the faulty gene to their offspring. When Sparkle's eggs develop, half of her cells will contain the working copy and half will contain the faulty copy. When the faulty gene is passed from her, it is switched off so none of Sparkles' puppies, even those that inherit the faulty gene, will be
unaffected. When Max's sperm cells develop, half will have the working copy and half will have the faulty copy. Just like Sparkles except
if the faulty gene copy is in the sperm, it remains switched on or active. So any of Max's offspring who inherit the faulty gene will be
affected because the gene is always active when passed from the sire. This same pattern continues with each generation ****this is the pattern researchers are investigating and leaning towards.

A sire's imprinted gene is switched off: A gene copy inherited from the sire (sire's sperm) that is causing a condition is always
switched off. The gene copy remains active when passed to offspring through the egg. Zack (generation 1) has a genetic condition caused
by a faulty gene copy he inherited from his dam. Zack's offspring Chloe and Shane (generation 2) is not affected by having the faulty gene copy because the faulty gene is switched off. the only copy of the gene active in their cells is the working copy of the gene they inherited from their dam. However, Chloe can pass the faulty gene copy to two of her four puppies and they have the condition because the gene copy remains active through the egg. Tom could not have affected offspring even though two of his four puppies inherited the faulty gene copy...This is the pattern I have seen: Dog A bred to Dams A, B, C twice...none of which has ever had a hernia anywhere on the body....both times only puppies from Dam A were affected but this is only one generation - Dog A's unaffected son from Dam B will be having his first litter at the end of the year.

Either scenario is plausible until we know more it is suggested NOT to breed affected puppies or their litter mates as more information is needed to pinpoint the exact mechanisms of this condition. Many have with no problems but will have this condition in their line which will keep recurring in future generations. While others have had problems losing entire litters and sometimes the dam from an inguinal hernia acquired or not because pregnancy puts extra stress on the body further weakening the supportive tissue, an opening appears, an infection sets in etc.
IMHO its just too risky.

Thanks Angie(Alaskan Lowrider).....that was way more info than how it was explained to me....but I totally understand it.

Angie......yours may not even be a true inguinal hernia if what your vet said she was pulled at birth....could of just been a stretching like was said. Is this out of Irelands litter then? Let me know how it turns out and we can go from there. You know me and my policy! Hugs to the little one and I hope she grows out of it!!

Very informative! Thank you

Yes it is from Ireland's litter, the 2nd puppy she had that was stuck and we went to the vet and he was able to pull her. She is going to a good friend of mine, so I will be tracking her progress once she goes home. Like I said, he doesn't want to do any kind of treatment for a while, if ever, just a wait and see. I was looking back over her and you have to hold her a certain way to make it pop out so you can see it. But everything else checked out good, lol!!

And yes I know Karen Not worried about that part at all!

Wow, that was very good info about the inguinal hernias. My Zelda had two earlier as a puppy. She is now 15 months and doing great. After I adopted her, my vet checked her hernias and thought that we would keep an eye on them and was hoping as she would grow they would strengthen. She didn't feel openings but thought that is was more of the weakened muscles. She has been rechecked as she has grown and the results have been great. I know it is something still that we will have to be cautious and attentive about. I thought that most likely it was more of a puppy development issue but I read your infomation and hope as she ages the muscle walls do not weaken again. Has anyone ever heard of any still requiring surgery later in life from the muscle walls weakening? She is a very happy active little lady and I think that has been a big plus in her keeping those muscles strong. I would trade her for anything!! As I type this out she and her buddy are playing like "little monkeys" as I call them!

Correction: I wouldn't trade her for anything!

My coco had hers repaired as a puppy and has had 3 litters of puppies,naturally and everything heals back up,none of her puppies have had them and her muscles are very strong.
...It hasn't re-opened...

You guys are welcome...thats the point of these forums - to share knowledge I am glad you guys understood it - the process is a lot more complicated than that as well as other factors but thats as basic as it gets

Sounds like most of your puppies have had the direct form from whelping and not the indirect form from genetics so the tissues are able to be repaired with no further consequences which is wonderful to hear ! My experience was indirect which was unfortunate..before I learned enough to study research papers one puppy with it had been sold as a future breeder. As soon as we found out both parents got fixed not wanting to take any chances as they were supposed to be my new foundation. Luckily I deciphered the information before she was old enough to reproduce and was able to convince the owners to get her fixed in exchange for a free puppy with no ailment from different parents for their future breeder.

She has only had the one surgery but a sister has had 2 surgeries to repair the tissues so far...the first one was at 8 months old (spayed at the same time) and the second was more recent at 2 yrs old - this time they removed 1/2 inch of dead intestine that got strangulated by the inguinal ring the intestine slipped into. The vet thinks it will develop again when she hits middle age as her tissues are not only weak but thin to start with. I wish it was just a matter of strengthening exercises luckily my grandmother is very understanding and is spoiling her like there's no tomorrow

It sounds like she will be very well taken care of with your grandmother. It's so great that you are a well educated breeder that cares very much about the dogs well being and health issues. Unfornunately there are so many back yard breeders out there that only care about the $$$. Thanks for being one of the good breeders!!