Lump near dog's penis

I have a 4 month old male yellow lab. He was just to the vet last Thursday and everything checked out fine. This weekend, my fiance informed me of a lump he had seen near his penis. I looked, its about 2cm long by about 1cm wide. It literally looks like the bump is going to pop. I do not see any kind of head on it to say its a pimple or ingrown hair. I know my vet most likely won't be able to get him in this week. We leave for vacation Thursday and I just wanted some input as to what it could possibly be. Its hard, and pink. He doesnt seem to be in any pain..hes acting fine..still eating, drinking, peeing, pooping..all that good stuff...he is acting like there is absolutely nothing wrong. Hes not licking it either, its like its not even there to him. Thanks for any answers.

[ginger899]

What does the lump feel like? If you feel it, can you kind of 'lift' it up underneath the skin and wobble it around? Has it got distinct, rounded edges to it? When you do this feeling around, how is he with that? Does he show any pain when you do?

If it's not 'attached' to anything underneath, and wobbles around under the skin it most likely is a cyst. This can wait a little while as it's not critical, but it's still wise to get the vet to check it out.

If he winces or shows pain when you feel at it, or if it has begun to look angry or inflamed, then it could be an abscess, and will need draining

If this lump feels hard, attached like it has 'roots', slightly knobbly perhaps (though not always) then it could be something that needs to come off asap.


The best thing of course, is to take him to the vet for it to be looked at professionally.

[Thomas Dock, CVJ, Vet. Technician]

Was the lump your husband saw along the shaft of the penis and was there another one on the other side?   If so, you are likely seeing the bulbous glands of the dog, which generally show up when the puppy is "excited"

The bulbous glands are what help tie the male and female dog during copulation and are often mistaken by owners as "testicles the vet missed during neutering".  Of course, these aren't testicles, but they do appear as large lumps on either side of the penis and they are very hard.

Again, without seeing what you are seeing, I am just guessing, but this might be something for you to consider.

[Linzi466]

i too this morning noticed two small hardish lumps along side my 8month old puppies penis... they are fairly hard and much higher along side the ball sacks, i felt them to see if Alfie is in pain and he wasnt bothered at all, however when i felt them they vanished but then within 5 minutes re-appeared, is this normal or should i get him to a vet?

Thanks.

[Thomas Dock, CVJ, Vet. Technician]

No Linzi...I think what you are describing are exactly what I mentioned above...the bulbous glands of the puppy.

Obviously, I can't see the puppy, but your description is almost identical to what I see with my male puppy when he gets excited.

[atty10]

My dogs gt 1 hard lump on the shaft of his penis wat is this

[ginger899]

That sounds like what the vet above just described, which is called the "Bulbus Glandis" It is a gland which swells quite large and round-ish, and is usually about half way up the dog's penis. It shows up when the dog gets an erection, and goes away when the penis goes back to flaccid again.
It does sound like this. Is that what you find happens? That it swells up, then disappears minutes or so later?
If so, that's perfectly natural and nothing to worry about at all.

The purpose of the "Bulbus Glandis" is that during mating, this gland swells, and kind of 'fixes' the penis quite firmly inside the female, while the dogs go into what is called a "tie" (when they get stuck together back-end to back-end, sometimes for up to twenty minutes)  This gives her a really good chance of getting pregnant.

[mira259]

My puppy has a bump that looks kind of swollen beside his penis not on it. and he keeps licking it? it doesnt seem to cause him pain but i just noticed it and i dont know what it is im trying to find out? :[[[ anyone think they may have an answer?!

[ginger899]

That lump does sound different to the one in the post before. It may be nothing to worry about, but if he's licking at it, it seems it is causing him some irritation, pain or itching. I think the best thing is to get the vet to take a look at it.

[shellbell3kids300]

i just got a puppy and he has a lump next to the head of his penis it has pus coming out of it this morning anyone know what it is and what i can do? please help

[Margot49]

As to the first post. Sounds to me like you are describing the bulbous gland also.
Let's see if this link will work.  It is a diagram. Thought I'd send that rather then a photo.  LOL!!  This gland will often swell on male when they are excited, no matter the age or even if they are neutered or not.  It will go down.

http://images.ask.com/fr?q=photo+of+dog%27s+bulbous+gland+&desturi=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.woodhavenlabs.com%2Fmales-swollen.html&initialURL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ask.com%2Fweb%3Fqsrc%3D1%26o%3D0%26l%3Ddir%26q%3Dphoto%2Bof%2Bdog%2527s%2Bbulbous%2Bgland%2B&fm=i&ac=114&fsel=2&ftURI=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.ask.com%2Ffr%3Fq%3Dphoto%2Bof%2Bdog%2527s%2Bbulbous%2Bgland%2B%26desturi%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.woodhavenlabs.com%252Fmales-swollen.html%26imagesrc%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.woodhavenlabs.com%252Fimages%252Fmale-anatomy.jpg%26thumbsrc%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fmedia1.picsearch.com%252Fis%253F_x9CgzvgldR1DrVWnyp8XOLzPWHJx45ZqvcOd_Db0X0%26o%3D0%26l%3Ddir%26thumbuselocalisedstatic%3Dfalse%26thumbwidth%3D123%26thumbheight%3D128%26fn%3Dmale-anatomy.jpg%26imagewidth%3D395%26imageheight%3D410%26fs%3D38%26f%3D2%26fm%3Di%26fsel%3D2%26ftbURI%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.ask.com%252Fweb%253Fq%253Dphoto%252Bof%252Bdog%252527s%252Bbulbous%252Bgland%252B%2526page%253D1%2526o%253D0%2526l%253Ddir%2526pstart%253D&qt=

[Margot49]

What the heck is that?  LOL!!!  Ok, that didn't work out too well.
Try a Google search for male dog anatomy bulbus glandis  and look for links with photos.  That should give you an idea of what you may be seeing.  Not many I found except some showing the penis erect and the bulbous at the base.  A male dog can get aroused and the bulbous will swell with the penis still in the shaft.  I have a 12 year old Greyhound here that will still get excited and swell.  I just tell him to calm down cause he's dreaming and it ain't gonna happen.  LOL.  :-)

[Margot49]

How old is your pup and are both testicles descended and, if so, do both stay descended and in the scrotum?

[ginger899]

Pus coming out of a swelling sounds very much like an abscess. The safest thing to do would be to take your puppy to the vet to have this drained and cleaned.
He may need antibiotics too. It's pretty straightforward. I took my dog to have an abscess drained once. All was well.

[ingrid2010]

thank you all for the information but tomorrow i will call the vet so he could take a look at it my puppie is a english bulldgod and i worry crazy about him and the rest of his brothers and sister but will your inf i can relax

[younqqpuppymama]

Hi Have a 7 day old puppy that I am now nuring because his Mother wont touch or feed him well Ive Been Cleaningg Him EveryDay With A Warm Wet rag and this morning I saw a little Bump Next To The Head Of His Little Penis And Im Not Sure What It Is Can Any Body Help Me Please ?!