My male Great Dane "Shadow" had an operation at the vets today.  He's had a sore paw for a while that keeps getting re-infected, so the vet decided it was best to have a look under anaesthetic to suss out the problem.  They found a small piece of thorn lodged in his foot and I was told that the area is badly infected and that the infection may possibly extend into the joint.  As i was trying to take this all in I forgot to ask what would happen if the infection was in his foot joints.  Can anyone help me with what this may mean and any problems I should look out for.  Shadow is back at the vets on Saturday for his dressings to be changed.  He's also on antibiotics too.  As I am typing he is sprawled on the sofa trying hard to stay awake to watch the tv!!

Sorry to hear about your boy. :( It depends which joint/s are infected, how badly, and whether the antibiotics can sort it out. From experience I'd suggest that you ask the vet to take a swab and analyse it to discover which antibiotic would be best - some are broad-spectrum and generally good, but some are better at targetting particular bacteria.

A few years ago my dalmatian got a stubborn infection in the bed of one nail, which spread to the joint and he had to have that toe amputated; he's fine now, thankfully. Hopefully it won't come to that with your Dane. Good luck.
:)