Umbilical Hernias in Dogs - Causes and Implications

Marcella's October 2021 Litter, with the navel cord spray still staining several puppies' coats as well as Marcalla's fur, 3 weeks after birth, due to the excessive amount of spray used.

Part 1- Backstory - October 2021 Litter

In October 2021 I had a litter of eight puppies born to two of my dogs, Unfinished Acres Sevro and Marcella of MoonAcre Maremmas. I later discovered that 4 of the puppies had umbilical hernias, or more accurately, delayed closures. An umbilical hernia is an actual hole in the abdomen which remains permanently open, allowing fat or intestines to slip in and out. An Umbilical Hernia can sometimes pose a risk to the dog, but usually only if it's severe and these types of umbilical hernias are rare. In a delayed closure the opening does eventually close, but takes longer than usual. Sometimes a little piece of fat can get trapped in the area when it does close, forming a "bubble" that can be felt under the skin, but there's no hole and no intestines or fat slipping in and out. The risk of danger from a delayed closure is extremely small.  ​

Hernias can be genetic or they can be mechanical - meaning damage was done to the puppy, usually by the mom chewing the cord too close or worrying it too much, or by human intervention (a breeder cutting the cords too close) or other causes. There's really no way to know 100% for sure what the cause is. But going by the evidence you see is a good starting point in making a rational, scientific and educated judgement. Do one or more of the parents have a hernia, or do any of their known relatives have one? That probably increases the odds that it's genetic. Did the puppy bleed excessively from the mom chewing the cord too close, or from a human cutting the cord too short? Or did the mom "over worry" the cord, licking and chewing obsessively? Then chances are high this is a mechanical defect.

Some females can be quite obsessive about chewing or licking the cords. In an effort to keep the pups clean they can inadvertently do damage to the umbilical area, causing hernias in some pups. This doesn't mean they are bad moms or shouldn't be bred. As with all things related to breeding dogs there are no perfect animals and each breeder must weigh all the traits a dog possesses to decide which animals are right for their program. Being proactive in managing the bitch and her pups during whelping may help prevent hernias in some cases, though this doesn't always work. Knowing your dog is helpful, but in reality some mechanical, non-genetic hernias may be inevitable in some cases, particularly with some dogs who are prone to worrying the cords. 

As far as whether or not a dog with a hernia should be bred people have varying opinions about that, too. Some feel strongly that breeding any dog with a hernia is an absolute no-no, no matter the cause. Others will breed a dog with a hernia if they believe it's mechanical and not genetic. Others feel that a hernia is a very small matter, even if it is genetic, especially in light of all the other factors that need to be considered when choosing breeding stock, and that culling an otherwise great dog from a breeding program based on a hernia is ignorant and backwards. This is a decision that each breeder should make for themselves based on what traits matter the most to them in a breeding dog.

When I discovered the hernias on the puppies I immediately suspected that the cause was mechanical, not genetic. Why did I think that? Because neither Sevro nor Marcella have hernias, nor do their parents, to my knowledge. Both Unfinished Acres Sevro and Marcella of MoonAcre Maremmas were bred by MSCA Code of Ethics breeders and these breeders would not knowingly be passing genetic defects on to their pups. I don't know if hernias are dominant or recessive but it makes sense that if the hernias in that litter were truly genetic at least one parent would have them. And likely one or more grandparent would, too.

From the moment I first discovered the hernias I strongly believed that I had inadvertently caused them. The spring before the litter was born I had several cases of Joint Ill (Or Navel Ill) in my dairy goat kids. Navel or Joint Ill is a horrible disease caused by bacteria getting into the umbilical cord site. It can travel into the joints, causing crippling pain and fever. In goats it takes at least a month of daily injections of very strong antibiotics (Baytril 100) and fever reducing medicine (Banamine) to cure. Kids can have lasting damage from the disease as well as the medications required to cure it. Preventing Navel Ill is serious business because prevention is much better than trying to cure the disease. Part of the prevention is spraying or dipping the navel area with a strong antiseptic solution to kill bacteria. I always spray the cords with Vetericyn Super Navel Spray but for some reason I still had a lot of cases that year. So after that experience I began being very diligent in spraying my baby goats thoroughly, not just once as I previously did, but several times over the first day or two. Thankfully this protocol worked and I have not had a case of Joint Ill in my goats since I made these changes.

Marcella's October 2021 litter was the first Maremma litter born after that spring kidding season, so I decided I should be just as cautious with the puppies to prevent a navel infection in them.  As each puppy was born I sprayed it with the bright orange navel spray. Then every time a new puppy was born I sprayed all of the puppies again. The reason I did this is that unless I was watching very closely I couldn't tell which puppy was the new one each time another pup was born. And rather than accidentally miss one, I just continued to spray them all each time. If you look at photos of that litter you'll see the orange spray all over the puppies and Marcella. The earlier born pups got more doses of the spray and their stains took several weeks to fade compared to the later born pups, who only got a few doses of spray. Spraying the pups so much turned out to be a big mistake because each time I sprayed the pups, Marcella continued to lick them over and over. In her efforts to be a good mom she was inadvertently causing damage to some of the pups' umbilical cords, most likely the ones that were born first and got sprayed more times. Of course, I didn't realize all this until the puppies were several weeks old and I discovered the hernias, and by then it was too late.

Once I realized that half the puppies had hernias (Three females and one male.) I explained the issue to all the puppy buyers and told them my belief that the cause was mechanical, not genetic, but that I couldn't know this for sure. I also explained to the clients that were waiting on a breeding candidate puppy that there were different opinions about whether a dog with a hernia should be bred or not. I told every client that they should do their own research and let me know what they decided. They could take a puppy with a hernia or without one from this litter, or wait for a puppy without a hernia from the next litter, that had been born in December. Some chose a puppy with a hernia, some chose a non-hernia puppy from this litter and some chose to wait for the next litter. I had planned to retain one of the puppies with a hernia, because I felt that overall she was the best quality puppy in the litter and had the best temperament. But because I didn't want to unduly influence any of the buyers I made all the puppies from the litter available and didn't retain one for myself.  

Marcella's October 2022 litter at 2 weeks old. Very little evidence of the navel spray is left because I was much more careful not to use too much. (The orange on these pups is sheep paint, used to mark the pups.)

Part Two - The Story Continues - October 2022 Litter

I knew that Marcella would be having another litter in 2022. Even though she had produced 4 hernia puppies in her previous litter she's a fantastic Livestock Guardian Dog with great conformation, excellent PennHip scores, a diverse pedigree and a trustworthy, gentle temperament. She has a lot to offer my breeding program and the breed. She doesn't have a hernia herself, and I strongly believed the hernias were mechanical, not genetic, so I was willing to try again. I was originally planning to breed her to Benson Ranch Pax, or perhaps to my newly imported Italian stud dog, Pegaso, but after thinking it over I decided instead to breed her back to Sevro. I did this for two reasons. First because I had wanted to keep a puppy from the last litter but hadn't done so and I wanted to repeat the breeding in hopes of getting another puppy as nice as the one I had let go. And also because I wanted to repeat the exact same breeding that had produced hernias last time and see if I would get the same results. I wanted to see if my theory about the cause of the hernias was true. I expected that I might get one or two hernias. Marcella is a super attentive mom and does have a tendency to sometimes chew the cords too short or lick them a lot. I knew that despite my best efforts she could cause a hernia in this litter, but I was hoping she wouldn't if I was very diligent. So I repeated the breeding and hoped for the best. And I promised myself I would be very careful not to overspray the cords this time!

​The puppies were born on October 4th, 2022. Ten lovely pups, 6 males and 4 females. As each puppy was born I very carefully sprayed the cord one time only and then marked the puppy on the head with a tiny dot of sheep dye, so I would know that these pups had already had their cords sprayed and wouldn't spray them again. I also kept notes as each pup was born of any issues as far as the cords or anything else. There were two puppies that Marcella bit the cords too close on before I could stop her. These pups bled profusely and I thought for sure they would herniate. But I quickly clamped the cords and tied them with dental floss and hoped for the best. (I took photos and marked these pups so I would know which ones they were later.)

Fast forward to the day the pups turned 10 weeks old. I had been casually inspecting the pups whenever I handled them but hadn't done a thorough "belly button exam" until that day, when I microchipped the puppies. On that day I took the time to carefully and thoroughly examine each puppy's navel area. And lo and behold there isn't a hernia on any of the pups! Not even the pups that had bled a lot. The pups are 12 weeks old, as of this writing, and still no hernias. And if there are no hernias at this point there won't be any hernias.

So that begs the question. Were the hernias in the other litter genetic or mechanical? The same parents (who themselves do not have hernias, nor do they have hernias in their lines) produced 4 hernias out of 8 last time and 0 out of 10 this time. The difference? Not the parents. They are exactly the same for both litters. The difference is the management of the whelping situation. My management of the situation. And in my opinion, the evidence shows that the hernias in the last litter were mechanical, not genetic. Of course, in the end there's no way to know 100% for sure which is true. Bit in my opinion, two dogs without hernias, managed differently this time and producing no hernias, is pretty convincing for the mechanical cause theory.

Ultimately breeding dogs is full of unknowns. Full of risks and chances. We can't input everything we want into a computer and get a "perfect" dog out of a 3D printer. No dog is perfect and expecting perfection leads ignorant people to make rash decisions, possibly removing dogs that have a lot to offer from the already limited Maremma gene pool over trivial things. They focus on things like hernias or coat length or other coat traits. Or size. (Some people are obsessed with big dogs. Big dogs are not necessarily better guardians. I have big and small dogs and they all have much to offer.) People will cull a dog over a hernia or a curly coat without even considering more important traits. That dog could have had stellar hip scores or could have matured into an outstanding LGD. Was a tiny bubble on the belly really more important? Ultimately each breeder (or potential breeder) must decide what matters to them. And maybe to some breeders (or puppy buyers) belly buttons and curly coats really do matter more than other traits.

But ultimately each breeder or aspiring breeder should decide what is right for their own program, based on thorough, careful, scientific research. Of course we will all make mistakes and we learn as much from our mistakes as from our successes. But what truly matters is how we handle those mistakes. Some are quick to blame others while others try to figure out what they could have done differently, so that they will do better next time. It is the latter type of people who will truly make an impact for good on the breed. These are the breeders I seek when choosing breeding stock. And this is the type of breeder I aspire to be.

And what traits matter to me as a breeder? A dog that is absolutely safe with livestock - no chasing or harassing once mature. (A LGD isn't considered fully mature until around 2 years old. Anyone who judges a puppy or young dog for normal adolescent behavior has unrealistic expectations.) A dog that is fearless in the face of threats to that livestock. A dog that's safe with humans - has an affectionate, friendly temperament with people it knows. (It's ok for a LGD to be wary of strangers.) A dog that isn't overly dominant and gets along well with my other dogs. A dog with excellent PennHip scores and good results on other genetic testing. (A breeder or potential breeder should educate themselves on how to properly interpret these results.) A dog with correct conformation. A dog with a good pedigree full of other great dogs that went before them. A dog that brings diversity to the breed, which has an already too limited gene pool. Sevro and Marcella check every single one of those boxes. And with no hernias in this litter of ten, to boot. That's a bonus. So I will very happily and proudly be retaining one of these four lovely female pups for my breeding program. And she will carry on her parents' legacy, producing more fantastic Livestock Guardian Dogs.