Growths Be Gone – How to Remove Skin Tags on Dogs

Dogs and humans have some pretty major physiology differences between them, and the most primary of them being the on 2-legs rather than 4 thing that has up upright and your dog somewhere around your knees. But another aspect is that dogs are lucky to have a nice fur coat, whereas for most of us the only place that is equally hairy is the top of our heads. Now of course no one is going to wish they had a dog’s fur coat, unless you’re a man who is darn close to having one. Under that fur, however, skin tags on dogs are a possibility for canines the same way they are for humans.

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Now it’s entirely possible that you’re not entirely sure what a skin tag is. So before we get to detailing how to remove skin tags on dogs maybe we should explain what they are. A skin tag is a small flap of tissue that hangs off the skin by a connecting stalk, and they are noticeably sticking out on top of the skin. Most people don’t mind them as long as they’re not on skin that is regularly exposed. They don’t occur very regularly on the face, but many people will get them on the neck.

With skin tags on dogs, it’s a different matter altogether. Dogs are fortunate in that they don’t have any of the vanity or self-consciousness us humans do, they won’t have any issue with a skin tag anywhere on their body. But all that fur means that the only instances where skin tags on dogs are visible are when they are on the stomach or certain areas of the face like eyelids.

Skin tags are entirely harmless, and generally speaking the reason people work to remove them is simply because they don’t like the look of them. Again, dogs don’t have that concern. But if you don’t like the look of a skin tag on yours then you’ll want to know how to remove skin tags on dogs. It may also be helpful to be able to identify the difference between a skin tag and a wart.

Dogs can get warts too, and these skin blemishes are more serious than skin tags and need to be treated with any long delay to both prevent other ones from popping up or creating the possibility of scarring on the skin.

Removal Options

There are OTC (over the counter – no prescription needed) products that can be used to freeze skin tags and then have them eventually shrivel up and fall off the skin. Ones like Compound W and Dr. Scholl’s work very well for humans who understand what’s going on and are prepared for the brief sensation of pain that comes with when the applicator tip freezes the skin. Your dog, on the other hand, isn’t going to be aware of what’s to come and they will almost certainly jump up when the freezing tip touches their skin.

Which is going to make the skin tag removal for dogs ineffective, because the tip has to sit steady at the base of the skin tag’s stalk in order for it to work. If your pet jumps up in shock from the freezing pain then it’s going to be wasted. So what’s the removal alternative with skin tags on dogs?

If your dog is overly skittish or has any other personality extreme, it may be one of the many things you can learn about dogs based on their sleeping positions. Interesting stuff, but in fairness any dog isn’t going to take a freezing skin tag treatment well.

Fortunately, there is one. Skin tags need a readily available supply of blood in order to maintain their existence detached from the skin’s epidermal layer. Take that blood supply away for an extended period of time and what happens to skin tags is they wither up, turn black, and then fall off. Which of course is exactly what you want for your dog!

Starve that Skin Tag

Which leads us to the #1 way for eliminating skin tags on dogs. It’s both super effective (if done properly) and free (provided you have the materials around the house already) and it’s a much more realistic option if you need to have your dog sitting still for a minute or two only. What you’ll need is this:

• Rubbing alcohol (isopropyl)
• Dental floss
• Scissors
• Razor

And here’s what you’ll do:

• Shave the area immediately around the skin tag (if necessary)
• Apply some rubbing alcohol to the area to clean and sanitize
• Take dental floss and tie it in a cinch knot around the base of the skin tag stalk where it joins the skin
• Then tighten the knot so that it is clearly constricting the stalk, and be sure that it’s quite tight

Leave it like this for a few days and you’ll soon see how the skin tags on dogs wither up and fall off eventually. Some people will use a cone collar if the skin tag is somewhere on the animal where it might be inclined to chew at the dental floss.

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This method works, and you’re encouraged to try it if skin tags on dogs is something you’re not inclined to tolerate.

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