Glucosamine Chondroitin

jackrabbit

Active member
I have read mixed reviews on this, however I am going to post a real life experience for anyone interested. I have a Male Lab, 8 years old, I have hunted him fairly hard from about 6 months on. 75-80lbs, big but muscular and lean, back ribs show a bit. For the most part in decent shape year round.

Fall 2017 - (6 years old) Started noticing a slight limp in the morning following long days of hunting on South Dakota trips. After a few minutes of walking and stretching the following morning, good as new. Nothing too concerning for me though, certainly didn't slow him down at all. Didn't think much of it.

Fall 2018 - (7 years old) Could barely walk the morning following all day hunts in South Dakota. Take a long walk in the morning, let him get loose and warm up, and he was for the most part fine the rest of the day. Following 3 day trips of almost non stop hunting, it would take him several days to recover. A vet was a part of our group on one specific trip, and he checked him out during the trip and diagnosed it as arthritis. Dog was in some pain each morning, but it always went away as he started moving. For the first time ever, I did kennel him up for a few fields to let him rest. Concerned me, but he always recovered.

August 2019 - (8 years old) Started really running him again working for fall (I keep him in pretty good shape year round, but ramp up the training, running, swimming, etc a bit in the months leading up to the hunting season). The limp was back after our training and exercising days. At the advice of a vet and a good friend that is a trainer, I put him on the cheapest Glucosamine Chondroitin pills that Amazon sold.

Fall 2019 (present day) - (8 years old) - During our local 1-3 hour weekly hunts, there was no limp, no next day limp or pain or discomfort - Good sign. I was waiting for my real test though, which was all day hunting for multiple days in South Dakota. Well - it was like I had a 4 year old dog again in the prime of his life. Not a single limp during a hunt or morning following the hunt. No pain. No discomfort. Nothing. Hunted HARD all day every day, never took a break, never slowed down, off the chart energy levels.

From what I have researched and been told, they are hit or miss if they work but they are worth trying. They won't prevent arthritis if given to a dog at a young age, but they can help in cases like mine where arthritis is already present. For the cheap cost, it is at least worth looking into.

In the 3.5 months my 8 year old lab has been on them, I have noticed extreme differences in him. Energy level almost back to annoying puppy stage. All day hunting. No pain. No limping. If anybody else has an aging dog, I would at the very least just recommend trying it for a month or 2 and seeing how they respond. Right now, I am optimistic that I may gain another year or 2 of hunting out of my best friend.
 
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I am in a similar boat with my 11.5 year old GSP, although with good bird numbers, no all day hunts these day. Are the meds you use for canine or humans? I used to take that stuff 10 years ago when I still played a little basketball with the old guys. I thought it helped my knees a little in the days following playing.
 
I am in a similar boat with my 11.5 year old GSP, although with good bird numbers, no all day hunts these day. Are the meds you use for canine or humans? I used to take that stuff 10 years ago when I still played a little basketball with the old guys. I thought it helped my knees a little in the days following playing.

Dogs. Here is what I use. One of the cheaper ones out there. Although read the labels, most are all the same.
https://www.amazon.com/ProSense-Advanced-Strength-Glucosamine-Tablets/dp/B00SX2N18A/ref=sr_1_7?crid=24TP08YZ3PCRV&keywords=glucosamine+chondroitin+dogs&qid=1574256695&sprefix=glucosamine+chondroitin+d%2Caps%2C179&sr=8-7

For dogs 75+lbs, which is right around what my lab is. It recommends 4 pills a day for the first 4-6 weeks. So I've been doing 4/day from early August and plan on doing that through end of December (hunting season), then backing down to the recommended 3/day and back up to the 4 again next fall. We'll see how it all works out, but so far so good.
 
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Fosters & Smith have a variety of versions. Sam's Club has human grades that can work.

My Vet is pro-homeopathic medicine ... at least try to see if it works.

Worked well on a Britt I had many years ago. She always was on the high side of the weight scale for Brittany maybe even slightly overweight. It was a battle with her even though she worked out quite a bit. She had another problem that required x-rays of her gut and her arthritic hips showed up. UofM vet suggested hip replacement surgery. Started with rimadyl, but found the homeopatheic route really worked for her.

She is also the only Britt that I have owned that tore her ACL.

Two things that I do differently with all my Britts now vs. her:
Walk, but never run on asphalt
Actively maintain weight - especially in the off season
 
As a pharmacist, I'm glad to hear that you are having success with G/C. It's very worth it to get an extra season or two out of our dogs. It's such a pity that the smarter the dogs get, the less they can do what they're great at.

On a side note, I would really, really, really discourage buying medication from Amazon. Amazon is absolutely lousy with knock offs. Whether you select the cheapest product that comes from China, or the one fulfilled by Amazon, you have no idea what you're actually getting. Best case you save $5 bucks on the real thing. Worst case you give your best hunting pal who-knows-what in pill form. Lots of companies wont sell to Amazon any more (Nike is the most recent) due to low fidelity in order fulfillment. I still use Amazon, but never for anything that goes on me or in me.

Any brick and mortar will be better than Amazon. If you can find it at a local pharmacy all the better, but Walgreens/CVS/Target/etc is still better than Amazon.

And FWIW, Chewy is only slightly better than Amazon.
 
Amazon is absolutely lousy with knock offs.

And FWIW, Chewy is only slightly better than Amazon.

So in essence your saying Amazon, Chewy etc.. are selling knock off products with name brand labeling distributed by companies other than the manufacturer with no proof of authenticity? Not saying this isn't happening but If this is so, this is called Trademark infringement or just plain counterfeit take your pick, both highly illegal.

Would Amazon be liable if someone could actually prove it wasn't authentic and were selling products via other distributors thru their corporation.

Could there be anything on the labeling that could not be copied proving authenticity?
 
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So in essence your saying Amazon, Chewy etc.. are selling knock off products with name brand labeling distributed by companies other than the manufacturer with no proof of authenticity? Not saying this isn't happening but If this is so, this is called Trademark infringement or just plain counterfeit take your pick, both highly illegal.

Would Amazon be liable if someone could actually prove it wasn't authentic and were selling products via other distributors thru their corporation.

Could there be anything on the labeling that could not be copied proving authenticity?

I wont give specific brands, but my IP/patent lawyer friend laid in front of me a bad knock-off, a really good knock-off, and the real product. I couldn't tell, laying side by side, the good knock-off from the real thing. Even down to the hologram they put on the package.

Now, if that's a pair of tennis shoes...oh well. If that's Pediatric Vitamins you're giving to your newborn...yikes.
 
I've been giving GC to all my dogs every day for probably 15 years or more. This on the advice of my vet/hunting partner. Both of us just use the generics from Sam's Club or Costco. Buy in bulk when on sale, 2 caps in the dog food each night.

Does it help? Well, both of us are convinced it does.
 
I have had good luck with Phycox Max soft chews for my soon to be nine year old English Cocker. Gave him two chews a day for a month or so (per directions) and then one a day for maintenance. Also give a 1/2 dose of rimadyl with his dinner after a long hunt.
 
As a pharmacist, I'm glad to hear that you are having success with G/C. It's very worth it to get an extra season or two out of our dogs. It's such a pity that the smarter the dogs get, the less they can do what they're great at.

On a side note, I would really, really, really discourage buying medication from Amazon. Amazon is absolutely lousy with knock offs. Whether you select the cheapest product that comes from China, or the one fulfilled by Amazon, you have no idea what you're actually getting. Best case you save $5 bucks on the real thing. Worst case you give your best hunting pal who-knows-what in pill form. Lots of companies wont sell to Amazon any more (Nike is the most recent) due to low fidelity in order fulfillment. I still use Amazon, but never for anything that goes on me or in me.

Any brick and mortar will be better than Amazon. If you can find it at a local pharmacy all the better, but Walgreens/CVS/Target/etc is still better than Amazon.

And FWIW, Chewy is only slightly better than Amazon.

You know it's kind of ironic that you mentioned Chewy because I went to the manufacturer's website for Cosequin DS and they have a "Where to buy" option on their main page and whoa and behold one of the retailers they listed was Chewy.com.... :D
 
I started giving my 14 year old lab Betty glucosamine daily when she was 10 and she is still hunting hard. She gets a dose of Next Level on her food twice daily...
 
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