My dog has new black freckles on her skin. Should I see a vet?

A common cause of darkened skin in these areas is from chronic inflammation, which could be caused by fleas, flea allergies, food allergies, bacterial or yeast infections, etc. I would recommend starting Cookie on a monthly flea preventative if she isn't already, and checking in with your vet to see what could be going on.

She could have a skin infection, mites, fleas, ringworm, allergic dermatitis, etc. Your vet can do a skin scrape, cytology, or culture to help diagnose and then prescribe medications to treat the problem. She may need an antibiotic, anti-histamine, corticosteroid, or other medications depending on the cause. Make sure to treat her with a monthly flea medication like NexGard, Frontline, Advantage, or Revolution to prevent fleas.

Thank you for providing pictures of the black spots on Belle! You are correct they could be moles, but it's always good to have any concerning spots checked out by a vet. That's because there is always a chance in an older dog that they would be a sign of a malignant tumor. It's not emergency, especially if they aren't getting bigger, and I would have her seen by a vet in the next couple of days. I hope this helps :-)

Blackening of the skin is commonly caused from chronic inflammation and/ or infection. Red lesions can also be signs of infection. I would highly encourage you to have your dog evaluated by a veterinarian soon. In the meantime shampooing with an antimicrobial shampoo such as chlorhexidine or salicylic acid would be appropriate. You can find these in the human shampoo aisle in the dandruff area. Best of luck and thank you for using Pet Coach.

Portabella’s lesion is quite prominent. It’s possible that it could be an allergic reaction from contacting something, or a benign or malignant growth. Given her young age, a benign mass called a histiocytoma is quite possible. The good news is that these lesions resolve on their own in a few months without treatment. However, the only way to differentiate between different types of skin lesions is some diagnostic testing. There’s certainly no reason to panic or worry yourself, but I do think it would be best to have Portabella examined by your vet. Your vet may want to take some cells from this lesion for microscopic evaluation. I hope that everything goes well!

It's hard to tell just from the photos because many lesions will look the same despite different causes. Those spots on Mara could be several things including fleas, allergies,superficial bacterial infection or endocrine disease. There are a couple things you can do at home and they can help but they may not address the underlying cause. I do recommend to go ahead and treat for fleas just in case. You can try adding in an omega 3 fatty acid supplement for dogs, this can help improve the skin health. You may also try changing her diet to something like Royal Canin or Nutro as they are aimed at skin health. You can wash the lesions once a day (not her whole body, just the lesions). Also protect the area from trauma by having your pup wear an elizabethan collar at all times. If the lesions do not start improving within a week or if they are getting worse, have her examined by the veterinarian. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

It's difficult to say based on pictures along. Your second picture almost looks like a nipple, but I'm assuming this is not the case if more and more have been noted. Sometimes a bacterial skin infection can cause darker skin and a raised lesion, and skin infections can be common secondary to allergies. It's also possible that these are normal areas of pigmentation. I would recommend having your vet examine Luna's skin.