I just noticed on my dog a… growth, shall we say, on the top of his neck. The location indicates that it’s probably recent or surely I’d have seen it before, I think. It’s flesh colored and looks like it might have a few hairs growing out of it (or that it’s expanded around the hairs.)
Could it be a tick? The pictures I’ve found online are dark, not flesh-toned. It really looked more like the kind of growth a person might acquire on the back of the neck, honestly. If it isn’t a tick I certainly don’t want to be after it with tweezers, especialyl since my dog is old and grumpy and will probably snap at me if I poke him with tweezers for anything.
It’s been ages since I’ve seen a tick and I honestly don’t remember anything about what they look like in situ. I really can’t afford to be dragging the dog off to the vet for every little nothing either, though. So, opinions?
Perhaps the simplest means of solving the apparent dilemma is simply to apply some kerosene or gasoline to the lump. If it’s a tick it will die and fall off, problem solved. If it’s not a tick then no harm done so long as the skin isn’t broken.
It’s probably just a mole or ‘tag’. Bear in mond though that this appears to be a fast growing lump. It’s also on an exposed area on what I assume is a light skinned dog. The potential exists for it to be some form of tumour so keep a careful eye on it.
My mom has a bunch of skin tags but I’ve never seen one on a dog before. Again, I can’t tell if the hairs are growing out of it or not - it’s kind of odd-looking. I keep trying to take a picture but he wiggles away; he’s a West Highland White Terrier, so he’s indeed light skinned and white haired.
That presumably means that you have a dark dog. Dark dogs generally have greyish black skin, the same colour as most ticks. In contrast white dogs usually have off-white skin which I’ve never seen in a tick.
Unless of course you mean the ticks are Causcasian flesh tone. Some are close, but that’s not similar to any dog’s skin colour…
Actually, yeah, when I meant “flesh tone” I mean like Caucasian skin tone, like my dog’s. He doesn’t have off-white skin, that would be weird. The “hairs” are definately not legs, my dog is white-haired and surely I could tell the difference, I think.
Actually, Blake, I meant Caucasion flesh. I grew up in the days where the crayon was called “flesh”, so I assumed that was what the OP meant.
Here in southern Oregon, most of the ticks I pick off myself are light-tannish-peach, with their only dark parts their mouths and legs. And the longer they’ve been feeding on me, the lighter they get. (In color, not in weight.) So were the ones I’ve picked off my dogs for the last thirty years, although nowadays the only ones my dog gets are the very first ones of the year, prompting me to realize it’s spring, and to start putting those wonderfully effective flea/tick drops on him once a month.
Again, I can’t tell if the hairs are growing out of it or not - it’s kind of odd-looking. I keep trying to take a picture but he wiggles away; he’s a West Highland White Terrier, so he’s indeed light skinned and white haired.