Springer Spaniel Puppy Q General Chat

My husband and I just purchased a 12 week old springer spaniel. Once we got home we saw she has a hernia. This was not mentioned upon purchase and we are both very upset and feel duped. There was even a place in the contract to indicate any health issues, it was left blank. We specifically asked whether there was any health issues at the last vetting and the answer was NO.

My husband wants to take the dog back as he feels this is a dishonest breeder who may or may not have been truthful about the health of the parents. When mentioned to the breeder our concerns it was brushed off and there was no offer to pay for the surgery, which hopefully could wait until time of spaying as my vet mentioned. I know a breeder is important and wanted a good relationship but it seems there is no trust. Unsure what to do. I don't like the idea of my puppy having a large hernia hanging off of her and do not want to have to spay early and be on the hook for an expense that we shouldn't have to pay for (regardless of what it cost, it's principle). Unsure what to do.

I do not know what to suggest about the breeder being truthful or not, but did you see the puppy before you purchased her? If so, did you not see a "large hernia hanging off her" [your words] before bringing her home?

If your vet says the hernia surgery could wait until the puppy is spayed, it does not sound as if the hernia is, in fact, that serious - assuming the vet has, in fact, seen it.

However, the fact that your husband wants to return the puppy does not sound as if he is going to bond with her, so you have to weigh that into consideration.

Thanks for your reply.
No I did not see the hernia! I did not have her on her back and I wasn't rubbing her groin area while interacting with her.

I hope the root of my concern wasn't missed. It's more about the breeder flat out lying to us when asked whether the dog had any issues identified at the final vetting two days before we picked up the dog. In the contract (which was created prior to the dogs final vetting and us picking her up) it stated that the dog did not have any known issues. That said, we specifically held off signing said contract because we wanted to be sure the vet did not find anything. With pen in hand at the time of picking up the dog we asked "we just want to confirm before signing that her last vetting was fine". The response was yes, everything checked out.

My husband and I are both bonding, so that's definitely of no concern. It's having purchased a companion from a breeder that was blatantly dishonest, which bigger picture, makes us wonder about the truthfulness of other health claims made on this dog and its parents. We wanted a good relationship with our breeder for the lifetime of our dog.

While I don't know whether we would have purchased the dog had we known about the hernia, we certainly understand these things happen and would have happily waited for the next litter if we decided didn't want a dog with a hernia. We are reasonable people! The fact that a simple disclosure was not made about a minor condition that will likely require surgery, and not to mention when pressed twice on any known issues before signing contract we were lied to! I realize the issue is "minor" but it's a surgery and was a known issue. We now question whether other MORE IMPORTANT health issues on the parents have been hidden from us. Maybe it's jumping to conclusions but hard not to rethink everything.

And to clarify, the vet has seen it, she does feel at this time it can wait until spay but also made no claims to say it's not going to grow larger before that time, which would warrant a re-evaluation of the situation.

I am glad that you are both bonding with your puppy. It does sound from what you say that the breeder was not 100% honest with you but I do not know what you can do about that, especially as the contract was created prior to the dogs final vetting. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable than I will see this thread and be able to give you advice regarding that.

An inguinal hernia repair is usually fairly minor - I do not know about such hernias in dogs but I know when my toddler daughter had hers repaired she climbed out of her cot at the hospital about an hour later and was found happily playing in the playroom, with all of two tiny stitches covered by a small bandaid.

If your vet thinks the repair can wait until your puppy is spayed, then I would just keep an eye on it until then. Hopefully the hernia will not get any larger before then.