Small black bump on lip

hi. I noticed this raised mole like growth on my dogs lip. I’m worried it is melanoma. It is around 3-4mm. I am super worried. Please any information would be great. 

Hello - I could tell you my gut instinct, but research has shown again and again that gut instinct isn't reliable.  I have removed innocuous looking lumps that have come back with lifechanging histology results and sinister looking lumps that have been benign; research suggests that vets are little better than random chance at identifying skin lumps.  Therefore, unless we know that a lump is most likely inflammatory (check on exam), vets will usually recommend removal and / or histology.  They may ask to wait a short while if they think it is likely to be a histiocytoma, which typically appear and later disappear in dogs 1 - 3 years old.  I would therefore strongly reccommend showing the lump to your vet.   You can type 'lump' into the blog search for a wealth of articles on this subject.

I spoke with our vet and they did not give a set answer and said that a biopsy is an option. I am just worried as that is not something I would like to put my dog through as there are risks for any operations. Would there be any tests outside of biopsy that would help us narrow this down? As of right now, we are just monitoring the size

The trouble is that many of these masses are very hard to diagnoses without a biopsy. Other options might include a slide impression (if it's oozy), or a fine needle biopsy (done conscious, if the pet will permit). However, often these are inconclusive without more definitive information.