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My puppy's nose is swollen with a sore. Bite, sting, or rabies risk?

Updated on September 23, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Golden Retriever | Female | unspayed | 5 months and 7 days old | 40 lbs

My 3 month old puppy came to the house one day with a little open sore on the front of her nose and half her nose very swollen. Would this be an insect sting? or could it be from another animal bite -- she had NOT had her rabies shot yet. Swelling & sore went away in a day with 1 Benadryl treatment. This happened on Aug 8, and she had her vaccinations on Aug 18.

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

Amber W

Answered By Amber W

Veterinarian, Certified Veterinary Acupuncturist

Published on September 22, 2017

Poor Pepper! If the swelling and sore went away in one day my suspicion is it was just an insect bite or sting. If it has been over a month since the incident with no further signs I don't think you have anything to worry about. Typically if a dog has been exposed to rabies the time frame to develop clinical signs is 10 days, but can be as long as a few months. If Pepper has remained normal over the past month and a half I think the risk of Rabies is very low especially because it probably wasn't an animal bite in the first place.

I am assuming the vaccinations on August 18 included a Rabies vaccine. And so, your veterinarian would have determined that Pepper was healthy enough to receive the vaccine and was not showing signs of Rabies. So it really sounds to be as if everything should be okay! She should now be well protected against rabies if she had the vaccine on the 18th.

I hope this is helpful! Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

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