Scary Snakebite!

On the morning of September 9th, Owen was outside playing and came to the door wanting in after only having been out for maybe five minutes (which was odd). So I let him in. In about a minute or so (maybe less, but I don't know for sure), I noticed he had something on his muzzle/nose in a couple of spots so I tried to check it out to see what it was (he often gets into leaves and dirt so I figured he had just gotten something like that on him). He did NOT want me to mess with it (which was weird since I am usually able to do pretty "invasive" things such as brushing his teeth) and tried to nip at me. In addition, he didn't even want to eat his favorite treats. So I got someone to hold him down while I looked and quickly realized that it was blood on his face and that his face was starting to swell a bit (not bad at this point, and the other people in the house were unable to feel it at this point).
So after checking the yard for "critters" (which we didn't find), we decided to take him to our wonderful vet. It was at the vet that he started to feel somewhat worse and that the swelling in his face and lips got worse. After a quick examination, our vet said that he had obviously been bitten by a venomous snake and likely a copperhead. The reasons for this are that copperheads have somewhat less potent venom (his reaction was not too severe compared to what some snakebites cause) and they are more likely than cottonmouth/water moccasins where we live (which is dry). He said that most dogs do fine with just a steroid shot and about ten days of antibiotics to prevent secondary infection from the punctures. We were told to give him some diphenhydramine (Benadryl) in addition to the prescribed medications the next day and to watch him for signs of necrosis (unusual, but can occur) and other problems.
Owen felt pretty lousy for a few days but I'm happy to report that he has fully recovered and that the only remaining sign of the bite is a small bump where one of the fangs went.
There is not really any good way to prevent snakebites in dogs other than to make your yard less desirable to the snakes and to watch your dog carefully in other areas.
If your dog is bitten, take them to a vet ASAP.