Could I ask your opinion on this please?  My black lab will be 8 this year.  She is fit, trim and healthy in all respects but I was wondering at what age would anyone recommend supplements for example to help her joints and so on?

She is the most beautiful girl currently fed on Burns and maybe supplements are never required but I simply don't know as I am just a pet owner rather than an expert?

Thanks in advance

S

My vet told me once that the best time to start suppliments was before the joint problems started, he suggested 7 or 8 was a good age for an average sized dog. I did this with my own dogs and have to say, even my GSD who had HD did remarkably well into very old age.
I use Corta Vet with very good results, I even noticed on a recent episode of Monkey Life that they use it for the chimps !.

Thanks Celli!!  I shal have a googl around

Sx

Hi sara,
I have recently started to give my two cavs riaflex which is a joint supplement.Tom is eight and Poppy is six and both compete in agility.Neither had shown that they were getting stiff or had any injury but just felt that because they are doing a high impact sport and because of their ages it was best to start using a supplement before any signs of injury occurred.

Have to say I am most impressed with the results.Both seem to have speeded up and at training last night  tom was running around like a spring lamb and as Poppy has recently won into kc grade seven she is certainly no couch potato but even she seems to have more energy and stamina.They have been having this supplement in powder form sprinkled onto their food once a day for approx a month now.The lady who markets this is a qualified equine physio and is very helpful and more than happy to advise which product best suits your dogs needs.also there was no hard sell and infact I never once felt pushed into making a purchase and was not talked into purchasing the most expensive product.I think her name is Kate but just google riaflex and you should find her details,I do rember that she lives in Bedfordshire

All my dogs regardless of age get salmon oil as a supplement.

Then my dogs from about 7 get a glucosamine/MSM/chondroitin supplement. (Fpr a dog with no allergies, I use H&B's Liquid Joint Care).

I have an 11 year old and a 6 year old dog

They are on:

Glucosamine and Chondroitin (Chondromax)
Cetyl - M
Rosehips
MSM
Vitamin C
Fish Body Oil
Green Lipped Mussel

For joint health.

Another vote for Riaflex. I showed it to my vet who specialises in orthopaedics and he really gave it a big thumbs up.

Just thought I'd best add that it is the Canine Joint Plus.

Taken from their website:

All does are based on a medium sized dog. Cost per gram of fure active joint compounds

Riaflex - Glucosamine 2000mg, Chondroitin 800mg, MSM 2000mg  Cost 13p/g
Yumove - Glucosamine 500mg, Green Lipped Muscle 300mg, MSM None  Cost 48p/g
Joint Aid - Glucosamine 200mg, Chondroitin 100mg, MSM 100mg  Cost £1.20/g
Seraquin - Glucosamine 1000mg, Chondroitin 760mg, MSM None  Cost 28p/g
Synequin - Glucosamine 475mg, Chondroitin 450mg, MSM None Cost 69p/g
Cosequin - Glucosamine 500-1000mg, Chondroitin 400-800mg, MSM 2000mg  Cost 43p/g

OF course the downside is that this comes in a powder that needs to be mixed with wet food.  I find capsules/tablets easier to administer, less messy etc. Also I find the amounts recommended very high, much higher for a 40kg dog than a human!!!!!

I get round this by adding a tiny bit of hot water to the food. The dish is always licked clean so imagine it is quite palatable.

If you are worried about the doseage, then just give one scoop.

Flipping heck girls! (assume you all are ladies here) That gives me so much info!!  Just want to make sure i am doing the right thing and have good info. Thank you so much

Sx

Hi,

I've posted on here previously about Fullolife which i give my 2 labs who are both 4! Was also advised it's not too early to start and they were both showing stiffness after swimming and stuff! Fullolife seemed to be one of the cheapest (£7.99 for their joint care, works out about 3p per ml) and it's worked wonders on them both! Thought it was worth a try compared to the price of Yumega and brands like that and now wouldn't change and because it's an oil I just pump it onto their food and they love it! :D

Hope this helps!