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My golden puppy has a hard bump on her head. What should I do?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Golden Retriever | Female | unspayed | 3 months and 5 days old | 15 lbs

My 3 month old golden suddenly appeared with a bump on her head on Saturday night. The bump is not tender to palpation, red, hot, and neither is there a prominent bug bite mark. It is right above her forehead and is the size of a grape. It’s slightly squishy but mostly hard! What could it be? How should we treat it?

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2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Jessica Keay, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on March 26th, 2018

What a cutie! Congratulations on your new puppy! The most common causes of a swelling such as this would be a hematoma (basically an injury causing bleeding under the skin to build up) or an abscess (a pocket of infection under the skin due to a wound or penetrating object such as a splinter). We may also see a reaction to an insect bite such as a spider bite. I would recommend an exam by your vet to look at the area. They may use a small needle to aspirate the swelling and check for the cause. Depending on their findings they may recommend antibiotics or just monitoring depending on the exam.

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Other Answers

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    Answered By Dr. Davis

    Veterinarian

    Published on April 1st, 2018

    Beautiful dog! You can massage this area gently to increase the circulation and reduce the swelling. I’m glad you had this aspirated so you know it’s nothing serious. As she grows up hopefully she won’t be as injury prone and this will fully resolve. It may take up to a month or more depending on how often she keeps injuring the area. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Nala.

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