help with something that looks like a blackhead on my dog

[ironman1737]

my 5 year old dog has had a scab on her right left leg.. The groomer always mentioned it, well she pulled it off the other day. I looked and it was an actual hole in her skin. I cleaned it with a q-tip and it was somewhat clean.  The scab was a long soft plug..  I am concerned could this be cancer? She has another one growing this quickly in the same hole..  She wasnt in pain when the groomer twisted it off.. I dont know why she would have done that, I was annoyed. But she said she has seen these before... Should I take her to her Vet?

[Ghilly]

Are you sure it's not a grub?  Sometimes certain types of flies will deposit their larvae into the tiniest of wounds on a dog (often along the chin or on the abdomen or inside of the leg) and a larva up to half an inch long will be living in there.  There is a hole in the top of the bump to allow the larva to breathe.  You might want to get her to the vet so that you can have this checked out by a medical professional.  This condition can be cured with medication but whatever it is, you don't want your dog to continue with it.  It could also be a staph infection, but it would be kind of odd for there to be only one of these lesions although not impossible.  After you have seen the vet, please let us know what the outcome was!

Ghilly

[ginger899]

It could possibly be a sebacious cyst. Occasionally these can be "popped" and most often what comes out of them is a cheesy-looking substance, but it can be blackish or brown-ish too. They are pretty harmless (if that is what your dog's little lump was!)

However, if another is growing in precisely the same place as the one just removed, then that could be because the cyst was ruptured, but the cyst capsule remained and has just filled up again. The "scab" you noticed could have been because the top of the cyst was caught against something, irritated, and it scabbed over

But please don't take my word for it! It's very difficult to tell what is what, over the internet, without seeing it.
The protocol for ANY unusual or persistent lumps or bumps is to get them checked with the vet. Sometimes it is pretty obvious what they are, and sometimes, to be on the safe side, the vet will do a needle-biopsy (very quick and only slightly uncomfortable, and needs no anesthetic)
So I would say if you are unsure -get her checked at the vet's.