What is this lump?

As I was petting my dog today, I felt matted fur near his neck. I checked it and it looked like blood/pus had spilled from this red lump, causing the fur to stick. At first, I was in shock because about 3 days ago my dog had been sprayed by a skunk, and I immediately thought it could have been a skunk bite. But upon closer inspection, there were no puncture wounds at all and it looked way too small to be a skunk bite. The skin around the lump was red and flaky, leaving me to conclude that it must just be a skin condition. Plus, I had cleaned my dog the day he was sprayed and do not remember feeling this lump at all, or finding any bites for that matter. Does anyone know what this could be? Is it a hot spot?  

Hello!  There is no technical definition of the word hot-spot; it's just a general term for a small, inflamed, irritated area - so this is definitely one!  However some 'hot spots' are more trouble than others.  I'm interested that you describe this as a lump, because most scratches / bites would just be holes.  'Lump' implies tissue damage and potential infection (eg abscess or pyoderma), so your vet definitely should take a look.  If there is a chance that this was called by a skunk's teeth (I'd guess you are not in the UK here!) Rabies is a consideration, and so are various bacterial diseases caused by penetrating the skin with something (anything) with bacteria on it.  Teeth are particularly bad offenders for this. So yes - please call your vet, because there are some potentially nasty possibilities.

Hi, Liz thanks for replying! I called the vet but never mentioned the skunk because of how unlikely I thought it might be, and they said they could only see him in the next upcoming week. I checked the lump again and it has dried, become flaky, and also shrunk in size. Also, my dog is up to date on his rabies vaccination, so that should be good right?

Here is an updated image of the lump. Again it has dried, become flaky, and also shrunk in size.

Hi again!  I'd normally let the vet know as much info as they can so that the triage effectively.  Best of luck!

*they can* triage...

Hi Liz, So my dog didn't have his collar on for a couple of days because we were soaking it in a hydrogen peroxide solution. We finally put it back on today, and I noticed that the lump/abscess sits right behind his collar. Of course this means it is not a skunk bite after all, which makes sense since now it's completely dry and "healing" I can see that there are absolutely no puncture wounds, just dried up blood from the two spots it burst open from. However, this leads me to another question. Is it normal for a new collar to do this to a dog? My dog's collar is new and is not super tight. Should we get him a new collar? Or should we stick this one out and see if anything else develops. Thank you!

Hello!  If this is an abscess, no matter what, it still needs to see the vet for a check - we have not seen the lesion, are not this dogs' vets are not responsible for giving you medical advice.  You need to see someone who is, in case eg superficial pyoderma or antibiotics are needed.  If it's obviously caused by the collar, they may advise that a different collar or a harness may be used.

Hello!  If this is an abscess, no matter what, it still needs to see the vet for a check - we have not seen the lesion, are not this dogs' vets are not responsible for giving you medical advice.  You need to see someone who is, in case eg superficial pyoderma or antibiotics are needed.  If it's obviously caused by the collar, they may advise that a different collar or a harness may be used.