Bump on dogs leg (biting, vet, skin, surgery)

[Dashdog]

One of the dogs at the dog park belongs to an older gentleman on a limited income. He is a smaller thin dog maybe a mini pin mix. The other day they thought he got stung by a bee. Today the man asked me to look at his leg .On the top of the paw there is a bump that is scabbed over but maybe a half inch or more up the leg there is a second bump that has a slight squish to it so feel like fluid ( pus?). I am thinking perhaps this is a foxtail that has started traveling up his leg. The old guy still is thinking bee sting but when I have seen reactions to bee stings the whole area swells . These bumps are about the size of an a shelled peanut. I thought I would throw this out there and see what any of you think... Because I am thinking foxtail I am think vet visit but because he is on a limited income and is thinking bee sting the owner is not at the point of bringing in the vet yet. Don't get me wrong as he loves his dog and takes very good care of him and if something happened to the dog he would be crushed. So anyone want to weigh in on what they think? Thanks The dog is about a year old.

[TinaMcG]

Wow, I wouldn't have thought of foxtail, so thanks for that heads up. Are the foxtails matured out there right now? I don't think they are here. Wow, now I feel like writing the man a check so he can get his dog checked out. That's a really young dog.

[mistyriver]

I would worry about foxtail too. Nasty things. We had one get caught in my old dalmation's throat.

[runswithscissors]

My way is - any time you can rule something in you should have it looked at. You ruled in Foxtail. But of course if it's nothing people let you know real fast LOL. You could print off a picture or two of it from google images and show the man and see if he agrees.

[Dashdog]

Tina here in Central Ca our foxtail season hits early. The early winter rains gets the grasses growing then the dry spring drys them out and foxtails are everywhere. Just this week I started taking the dogs back to our favorite early morning walking place the off leash wilderness area above the beach . I quit going for several months due to foxtails but the grasses along the trails are pretty beaten down now: However my two are off trail racers! I give them a good going over with my hands back at the car them comb them at home. It is so beautiful out at 8AM up there that I missed not going so am starting to go again and will keep my fingers crossed that I find any foxtails on them. It is my relaxing walk and they have a blast playing chase games with the regulars up there and come home tired so do not demand much until 3PM when it is dog park time The beach is another favorite place too except then I have sandy wet dogs and a sandy wet car and a sandy house.

[loves2read]

have no idea what a "foxtail" is
I assume some sort of barbed grass head?
found this on WebMD
http://pets.webmd.com/dogs/foxtail-grass-and-your-dog
and this on another site

http://anewscafe.com/2009/07/08/carl...nnocent-grass/

we took our dog on short trip a couple of days ago and we let her walk/potty in several areas that could have had something like these
now I am worried and will have to check her over
how soon does exposure to a foxtail manifest itself???

[Dashdog]

Foxtails( which are a grass seed) can dig in pretty fast and then they will keep traveling and can even make it to vital organs so it is best to get to a vet ASAP if you think your dog has a foxtail and if it is early enough they can probe around and get it or even sometimes flush it out if not it takes surgery to find it and remove it.

I have only had one dog get one and that was Jazz I had noticed she had been biting by her tail and being she did not have fleas, ticks or any skin issues I took a look and there was a small swollen bump with an obvious hole in the center so I thought Foxtail. I called the vet and they were booked for the day but being it sounded like a foxtail one of the vets said she would give up her lunch so told me to bring her right in. She ended up doing a minor surgery and found the foxtail so my guess had been right on.

This is why I am trying to encourage the owner to go to the vet as it would be cheaper to get it out now if it is a foxtail as I have never seen a bee sting look like this and he just keeps saying I think it is a bee sting maybe two of them We will be at the dog park soon and see if he has done anything yet.