Our old dog had them. A friend of mine is a vet and she said they were just fatty rumors, nothing serious. They were big, but soft and didn't bother him. We never had them checked out by our own vet since my friend was not concerned about them. He was almost 17 when we finally put him down due to old age (he was a 75 lb lab so lived really long). If they concern you, perhaps get a second opinion. I trusted by my friend - would've used her as our primary vet but she works p/t at emergency clinic so we used a regular vet. I mentioned the bumps when she was over one day, she checked them out and kept an eye on them over the years but nothing ever came of them.

I agree, it just sounds like lipomas (fatty tumors) that are pretty common in older dogs--and older people.

Our lab has several fatty tumors. He started getting 1-2 a couple of years ago and scared us to death. He now has at least 4 and a couple have grown a bit. Our vet keeps checking them out and doing blood work routinely (he also has low thyroid issues) but no concerns.

OK, thank goodness (and thanks for the replies), I am so glad to hear it is not just my guys. When I tried Googling it, I just kept running into these horrible stories but I guess it is self-selecting and more people post w/ problems.

I've had the FL and PA vet both look at these things and the FL vet does the needle biopsy and says they are fine but the PA vet says needle biopsies can't tell for sure and to either watch or remove and I don't want to put them through removal since last time it was such an ordeal for B. to not be able to jump up and sit and cuddle himself or to walk.

All three of our Labradors and my parents' golden retriever got those lumps when they were older. The vets always said not to worry unless the lump bothered the dog. They were willing to biopsy, but said it puts the dog through a lot of distress and the lumps are rarely cancerous.

My brother's beloved beagle, Betty, developed a HUGE bump on her chest. They did biopsy that, and it was just a fatty tumor. It eventually got almost as big as an orange (!). Although it didn't seem to bother her a bit, it was kind of grotesque, and they worried about it until they had the vet remove it. It was still not cancerous.

My daughters 3 y.o. lab mix has one on his neck about the size of a pea. Vet said nothing to worry about. I have a fatty lipoma too. :))). Removed it once...biopsy was fine. It cane back within six years . I'm leaving it alone. So is the dog. I'm sure they're nothing to worry about.

Thanks. A fatty lipoma was what the needle biopsy showed for the bumps that have been checked. So, I guess I will assume that is what it is... I will just hope it does not get any bigger!

Just read this now and was going to reply that my lab & golden both had lipomas in their later years. We chose to just leave alone as they really didn't change in size too much.

My Golden had a mast cell tumor removed a couple years ago. It looked different than his usual old age bumps. I keep an excel chart of his bumps so I can track them. Just found a new one in his collar region.

Fatty lipoma's are common for some dog breeds. Pointers get them too. Keep an eye out though, because cancer shows up as a bump...or soft mass. My dog's bump was on her shoulder and the vet said it was a swollen muscle because she'd had it before. It was cancer.