Wound Advice & Yelping

[Guest Mulletsarelove]

Hey!

I'm a new greyhound owner-I just got my first a little less than a month ago. She is settling in nicely, but about a week ago she got a bit of a cut on her hind leg while in the crate. After searching for the offending object that she cut herself on, I realized that there were a few areas of the wire crate that stuck out a little more than they should, so I promptly covered them with tape and since then, there have been no more cuts. However, her cut is having some delays in the healing process. I cleaned it out well, trimmed/shaved the fur around the cut, and for the first few days put some antibiotic ointment on it. It healed pretty well and within a few days, scabbed up. She was leaving it alone well until the scab appeared and then while I was at work, I came home to find that half the scab was ripped off. The next day, it was all gone. I re-did the cleaning, and put some more ointment on it and it started to heal again, but slower this time. She didn't appear to be messing with it at all, and when I would come home, it looked the same as before. This morning it was noticeably better after I had had three days off in a row so she was not crated much at all. Today, I went back to work and she was in her crate for about 6 hours and apparently decided it was a good time to start licking at it again, so it's back to being more open/more red. What's the best way to stop her from licking at it when I'm gone? She never licks when I'm around her, since she knows I don't want her to, but when I'm gone it seems it's free game. I'm thinking about muzzling her with the poop guard while she's in her crate when I'm gone, but I'm not sure if this is a good plan or even an effective one. Can they get their muzzles off in the crate? I could get a cone but I've heard they are easily removed since greys have such skinny heads. Is there a way to cover it? Pic is below-it's on her upper leg.

Also, since I have gotten her, she has yelped out twice while sleeping-once when we were in the car and once last night in bed. They don't seem to have any particular trigger and she is never panting or doing anything else that may indicate pain.To me it seems like the most likely thing is some sort of a dream-induced yelp, but I just want to make sure I shouldn't be worried. She is very active and has no gait problems/appetite problems/etc. She's 3, so she's not old enough for a lot of the major health problems, and when I feel her over nothing seems painful. I just got her from the rescue, and they did a full exam/spay/dental/etc in April so it hasn't been that long for something to dramatically change. Is it normal for greys to just randomly let out a little yip/yelp in their sleep? None of my other dogs have ever done this, but then again, she definitely twitches more in her sleep than any other dog I have had so perhaps she just dreams a little more excessively.

Here is a picture of her wound:

[Batmom]

I would probably try the muzzle without the poop guard (dangerous if they vomit when unattended) -- usually that's enough to keep them from picking at things too much.

 

Yelping -- they do have dreams that cause vocalization. It is pretty normal. My current two will occasionally howl in their sleep -- sounds for all the world like a fire engine right there in the room with you!

[Feisty49]

My Annie Bella often dreams where she yips, sometimes barks softly and makes other "I'm dreaming" sounds. Her feet will move. Her ears will flicker. Her mouth may quiver.

[Jimbuck]

Freddy will often run, twitch, yip and let out muffled barks in his sleep. The first night it happened I was really worried something was medically wrong because I had never seen a dog sleep like that before. Now I think it's cute as heck. I'd recommend doing the muzzle like others suggested until things improve. Hopefully she heals up soon!

[Guest LindsaySF]

I would put a bandage on the wound and then muzzle her so she can't chew off the bandage. If that doesn't work then muzzle with stool guard.

[Guest PhillyPups]

 

Hi, welcome to GT.

 

I would bandage the wound, if that does not work, I would muzzle, however I would never leave my hound unattended, to go to work all day, with a stool guard in the muzzle, (see Batmom's reply above).

 

DonnieDude talks a lot in his sleep, I am used to it and think it is cute. Gizmo gives a big sigh when he lies down and again just before he falls asleep. I love their gentle sounds. Each one is such an individual, just like people.

 

Again, welcome, and hope your pup heals quickly.

[Brandiandwe]

Both of my girls have had cuts. One took about 3 weeks to heal entirely, the other only happened last Friday so we're just starting out. We found that they just heal slow on the legs because both of mine took so much skin off when they did it. Things that help are bandaging for a couple of days, and then using an antiseptic spray which is a bitterant. It tastes bad and stops them licking for a while.

[GeorgeofNE]

George makes 10x more noise when he is asleep than he does awake! He runs, growls, yips, barks, and wags his tail madly!

 

Have you tried leaving her out of the crate?

[Guest Mulletsarelove]

Thanks so much! That makes sense about poop guard in crate, she hasn't ever vomited with me so I didn't even think about that but definitely better safe than sorry...I finally got some vetericyn spray (I couldn't find it locally, so I had to order it online) and applied it once-lt seems to be speeding the healing a little in conjunction with muzzling her when I'm gone. It's really hard to bandage because it's so high up on the leg (side note, how do you imbed pictures? The one I posted works if clicked on but doesn't show up in the actual post for some reason), I'd probably have to do the figure eight thing around both legs to get something to stay and that seems a little excessive for a cut that is less than half an inch long. I've tried keeping things on with just some tape/gauze but she rips those off right away so it would need to be sturdier. Is there a way to bandage the upper leg that I'm not thinking of?

 

I haven't tried to leave her out of the crate, mostly because right now I'm living with my parents who have small dogs that are not always the best behaved around other dogs and while they are doing mostly ok (a few warning growls/barks occasionally but nothing past that) when we are around I still wouldn't trust the three of them alone together. I think I will try to test out leaving her out of the crate once I move out and we get settled in the new place next month. My main concern with that is her getting into something/eating something she shouldn't-we are starting to get a good potty routine going so hopefully being out of crate wouldn't change that although you never really know until you try.

 

That's good to know about the sleep vocalization! I just wanted to make sure I shouldn't be worried about pain.