It seems likely that he was stung by some sort of insect, and had reacted to this. The vet assured us that the swelling would now start to go down, and fairly soon it was indeed improving. A couple of hours later all that there was left to see was a bump on one side of his face where the bite must have been. Our handsome boy was back. Rusty after the trip to the vet.
Butch has yet another tick scare.
Since moving to our Northern New South Wales country haven, ticks have been a constant worry. These are paralysis ticks, and can kill dogs. So far our dogs have not become sick from a tick, but we often find ticks on them, not that ticks are easy to find. We have been fortunate so far, finding the tick before the dog has shown any signs. Now we use a product which is applied to the dog's coat, and offers protection from ticks for 2 weeks at a time.