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If worst comes to worst, think about scheduled feedings. It really eliminated a lot of nutritional/behavioral problems for us.

Definitely not right away. Give your new guy at least a few weeks/months to learn your routine, boundaries, and rules. And if/when you've decided to try it, be prepared to do some training. There are lots of threads on here regarding brand new greys growling and space guarding a bed because they've never seen one before (which is 100% normal and does not mean the dog is aggressive in any way). Especially during the initial adjustment period, it's important that the dog have his own bed where he can retreat when he's nervous or stressed. I'm not trying to discourage you, because I allow my dogs in the bed too. But both of them (retired racer and AKC grey) needed a good deal of training before they understood the concept of "my bed" and "your bed." They growled at me if I tried to move them, and it took a few times of being "banished" from the bed before they understood. You may get a dog who has perfect bed manners right from the start, but in my experience, it takes some work to get there.

I'm pretty certain my boy Henry is dealing with a spider bite. We're about $1400 deep in vet bills, and it got much worse before it started improving. The e-vet did a joint tap and the entire joint became septic. Spider bites are really nasty.

The leg looks much better, but for whatever reason, he seems to be in more pain. I'm thinking the antibiotics are working, and he's getting some of that 'feels worse before it gets better' stuff. But I do think we're on the upswing.

Yep, that looks about right. We're on Day 5, and nothing has burst (yet).

Here's Hen's swollen leg. It looks a little better today, but Ducky, you can see how similar it looks to Harold's.

YEP!! Almost exactly, even down to the same spot on his leg.

Thanks all for the info on heart murmurs. I updated on Henry's condition in the other post.

Update: After starting the antibiotics, we saw no improvement by the next day. If anything, the swelling was even worse and continued to migrate away from the site of the injury. He was also refusing food and water. Our vet recommended that we take him to the e-vet yesterday, which turned into a 7.5 hour marathon event. They aspirated the joint, ran a CBC and TBD panel, and adjusted some of the medications. As it turns out, the joint is now septic. When she did the aspirate, they couldn't even draw it back in the needle because it was a thick pus. The 'swelling' in the lower part of his paw actually wasn't swelling at all- it's edema. The e-vet is recommending a very aggressive antibiotic treatment for at least a month. If that doesn't work, we'll need to bring him back in to have the tissue debrided. Henry continues to be very 'out of it' but stable and in good spirits. At this point, I'm really considering the possibility of a spider bite. While I was waiting, I researched 'spiders native to western PA' and came up with a very thorough study by Penn State. I found one whose bite very closely matches Henry's symptoms. The long-legged sac spider: These two spiders probably account for a significant number of human bites. People usually incur C. inclu- sum bites outdoors while gardening in the summer. C. mildei will readily bite, despite their small size, and they have been observed crawling across the human skin surface and biting without provocation. Although most of these bites are painful at the outset, they normally do not result in any serious medical conditions. For C. inclusum victims and some individuals sensi- tive to C. mildei, the bites will exhibit the symptoms described below... The bite is usually very painful and burning at the outset, with developing erythema, edema, and intense itching. The burning sensation associated with the bite will last for an hour or more, and a rash and blistering will occur during the next ten hours. Some patients may exhibit systemic reactions with fever, malaise, muscle cramps, and nausea. These symptoms are similar to black widow bite symptoms but are much less severe.

It's a joint infection. I suspect a spider bite. I'll post more specifics in the other thread tomorrow. I've been at the e-vet for the past 7 hours...

It's funny- this is Truman to a T. Moving hand? Perfect and wonderful. Resting hand? Immediate growl. He's been extensively trained that a growl warrants bed eviction, but it doesn't matter. He'll actually evict himself after the fact- I don't even have to say 'off' anymore. We've worked on it for over a year, and I'm pretty much resigned to the fact that I can't rest my hands (or any other body part) on him. Something about it just freaks him out and upsets him. And I'm big on training. I really tried. This is the one thing I've had little progress with in the training department. If you find a method that works, let me know!

Thanks Is it possible that there's a connection between the two?

Also, I remember what you went through with Brees. She looked very cute as a bull terrier.

Thanks. They were going on and on about osteo... I didn't want to say anything rude, but eventually I said, listen. I know all about osteo. This isn't it. Can you please just drain the leg?

Very possible. It's been a very unusual turn of events. Excruciating pain for two days, couldn't bear any weight on it. Now there's a pocket of fluid collecting near the joint. Swelling has spread from one area into the whole leg. When they press on the lower half of his paw, it stays indented for awhile. She said that's not typical swelling- it's edema. Regular antibiotics are having little effect. The leg has gotten progressively worse over the last three days. I don't think a run of the mill sprain would've taken this direction.

Nope... They eat the nails and all unfortunately. We call them witch hands.

Okay, this makes me feel better. As for the leg, they are draining the pocket of squishy fluid on the side of the joint. They're also doing a joint tap with a cytology of the aspirate, a CBC and TBD panel, replacing the Rimadyl with Gabapentin, and adding an anti-nausea med. I'm hopeful that pet insurance will cover some of this.

No issues with chicken feet here. That's the only raw food/bone my boys can tolerate.

This is a good opportunity to start feeding all the dogs at a regular time. When you free feed, it's hard to tell if one of the dogs is sick, not eating, etc. It's also hard to ensure all dogs eat the correct amount and have their dietary needs met with the right food. Put their bowls down, give them 15-20 minutes, then take the bowls up regardless if they've eaten. It usually only takes one time, and they get the point. Your dogs will not starve to death, I promise! BTW, I've tried 5-6 different foods and have not found any with the same results as green bag. It was a miracle worker for my guys.

I'm at the e-vets now as Henry's paw continued to swell and he is refusing food and water today... Trying to get that handled as best as possible, then the e-vet drops a bomb on me. While listening to his heart, she said he has a 'soft heart murmur.' He has seen at least three other vets who never mentioned this. I tried Googling 'greyhounds and heart murmurs' which turned up two articles, one from Dr. Tilley and the other from NGAP. These articles suggest this is a common genetic trait in greyhounds due to their athleticism. NGAP's article states medication or other invasive treatments are usually unnecessary. The e-vet is suggesting a cardiology referral... Should I be worried about this?? I'm up to $1400 on the leg, so I'm really not trying to spend anymore.

We're not out of the woods yet. Yesterday, the leg didn't look right to me. The swelling migrated from just the joint to the entire lower leg/paw area. Took him back to the vet's yesterday. Looks like a secondary infection. Either that, or it was some sort of bite or sting all along. He got two shots of ABX, and we also went home with Baytril and Amoxicillin.

AngelPup, just wanted to point out that JJng is a vet. I consider her the 'Great and Powerful Oz' of this board.

Fecal test under a microscope, although some strains need confirmed by a blood test. I don't ever think the vet saw coccidia cysts in my cat's stool sample (since it was usually just water and very hard to get a real sample). But after she was treated with Albon, she was better.

Panacur would cover Giardia... we literally just dealt with that with Truman. He was shedding Giardia cysts and they came up in his routine stool check... Maybe someone else can jump in, but couldn't they just test his stool sample for Giardia? Why the need to take a manual anal smear?

Whips are the ones that require you to disinfect your yard and bedding.