Just over a month ago, I was doing a routine check on my 13 month old GSD pup, Brody, for ticks. We had just gotten back from a place that was loaded with ticks, so I wanted to be sure there were none on him. There weren't any, but during the check I found a small black lump on his left foreleg.

Here is a picture. It's pretty large since I wanted to give a good view of it:

http://www.aboynamedbrody.com/wp-content/gallery/misc/brody-leg-lump.jpg

I took him to the vet for a checkup and to look at it. My vet told me to keep an eye on it to be sure it didn't grow in size, and if it didn't go away in a month then I should have it removed.

I'm find with this, however it will cost me in the neighborhood of $300, which hurts. I have read the articles by Dr. Karen Becker on when not to remove lumps and I'm not sure if this is something I should just leave alone or have removed.

The way I see it, I have two options here.

1) Take him to the vet and have it aspirated and sent for analysis. I'm not sure but I'm guessing this would be close to $100.

2) Have it removed. As mentioned before my vet gave me a rough estimate of around $300. They would just use a local anesthetic and mild sedatives, they said he wouldn't need to be put under.

I was wondering if anyone else had experience with small black lumps on their dogs. This one was very soft and about the size of a small pea, but now I think it has gotten a bit harder. It has not changed in size though.

Thanks for any input you might have!