I have a shih-tzu that has skin tags. Is there anything besides taking him to the vet that will remove them? I had him at the vet who wanted $75 a skin tag to surgically remove them. He has about 15 skin tags.
They don't seem to bother him, but I don't like them.

a clean scalpel
I put a fresh blade on my Wiebe some alcohol and did the one fleshy growth on my dog , the vet said it looked good

skin tags sometimes bleed a lot , you might want some silver nitrate sticks handy , the same thing the vet uses when they hit the quick in the claws

when I explained I had the scalpel knife for skinning as I trapped then the vet had lots of questions about trapping , I was a little worried she might be anti but she was not , they vet is also large animal and understood the need for predator management to control livestock losses and disease.

You can pull off or cut the skin tags off with sharp scissors. People will tell you not to, because of the risk of infection. Many people do it with absolutely no issues, except a tiny bit of bleeding.

Keith

I've cut them off my wife, I sure wouldn't be worried about the dog. Follow GCP's advise!

I went to the DR and had a bunch cut off me 20 some years ago , DR's may have degrees but they don't know poop about sharp tools , that DR technique was clean with Povidone-iodine pull with a forceps and cut with a set of scissors if they wouldn't stop bleeding she would break out the silver nitrate stick.

I said if I ever did that again I was going to wear earplugs , the cutting sound of scissors on skin right next to the ears , blood doesn't bother me but that sound when I know it is my skin , no thanks.

Skin tags on a human are a sign of prediabetes/diabetes. They will go away on their own if you stop eating so many carbs.
Probably the same on your dog.

Are they big enough to get a dental floss loop knot on?

Very interesting. That makes sense on a few folks I know that have them.

Just a piece of thread works too.
just

Yes, if I can get him to sit still long enough. He's got a lot of them.
Do you pull the knot tight and let them eventually fall off on their own?

Yes- I've used fishing line and dental floss- some shear off when you pull it tight, if the base is thicker, it cuts off the blood flow and they fall off.

I've seen vets castrate boar pigs in a similar way by attaching a rubber band around the scrotum cutting off the blood supply. Eventually the testicles fall off. They say it's pretty painless to the boar.

I should mention I did try that ointment you can buy that's suppose to work on people by dabbing it on. It didn't do anything.

Had a bunch taken off my neck and the inside of my thighs, about 18 total. physicians assistant used a pair of tweezers, stretched them out and snipped them with a tiny pair of the sharpest scissors I ever saw. Then he cauterized them with an electric needle. Painless but a little stinky. He did start with a very little shot of lidocaine for each one.

I saw that very thing on Dr. Pimple Popper once exactly as you said. That wasn't you was it?

It might take a few peanut butter filled Kongs to get it done

Tea tree oil.