Best Joint supplements for 2 year old lab

[Wintershereagain]

We have a gorgeous well behaved 2 year old lab who lives for running after a ball! He had an op
On his elbow last year for a fragment that had broken off and was causing him to limp. Vet says it was genetic - it was key hole surgery and good recovery. He lives for Chasing after the ball and I know this isn’t great for labs but he is obsessed. Any ideas to break obsession welcome too! He eats wet food mixed with hills joint kibble - used to be all kibble but turned his nose up at it do had to mix. We’ve just gone bank from coast and he has over done it and is limping intermittently on back leg. Think he landed badly on a jump. He isn’t showing pain but after a walk will hold it up and I see a limp regularly. Can i give him joint supplements as well as the special food vet suggested. I was thinking of yu move. Vet says after op he would be likely to get arthritis earlier then other dogs so want to give him best chance. Amy one used Yu move at a young age ? Thks

I use Jointaid, it’s similar to Yumove

If he's limping & holding the leg up he's in pain and may need some temporary pain relief and exercise restriction so best check with the vet.
I give mine riaflex joint plus & green lipped mussel powder, however supplements can take long while to build up to have any effect. As supplements are not classed as medication its also fairly unregulated & lot of unsubstantiated claims can be made about products.

As you say chasing balls is really bad for dogs joints with the strain of fast stops & twisting body and tends to be a repetitive exercise. My dogs have zero interest in balls but imagine there are more 'find it' low impact type games could use a ball for & if can make him wait till ball stops before retrieving that will help. Scentwork is something all dogs can enjoy even arthritic/old ones and many more trainers are offering courses now.

Canine Arthritis Management are a fabulous resource full of information. caninearthritis.co.uk/

They have regular live talks with specialists on various topics on their Facebook group, also posted to YouTube. Holly's army is their owner support group, definitely worth joining if a FB user. www.facebook.com/groups/2161091580843717

Have a look at AOK9 Flex supplement.

Also raw chicken feet and raw duck feet contain a lot of glucosamine and chondroitin and digs love them and they are cheap!

My rottie had elbow dysplasia - and the same surgery, he was on Yumove from first going make at 4 months, plus salmon oil.

His other elbow got arthritic at about 2, then both were bad enough at 6 that he had to be PTS...

Stop with the ball throwing. It’s so bad for them. Our lab now has arthritis age 6 and we think made worse by ball chasing.

We use Yumove too.
caninearthritis.org/article/on-throwing-balls/

Weight management is key too.

The strongest supplement on the market is Riaflex mix it with green lipped mussel. It would probably be better to give him a higher quality food and add in the supplement. Need to check with a vet with reagrds to giving the joint food and a supplement. Yumove is not the best on the market.

You MUST stop the ball throwing. You can play ball games but not flinging the ball. Keep the dog still and send a short distance to a still ball, hide the ball and let the dog sniff it out.

Sorry to he harsh but if you continue with ball throwing you dog will be in agony and you could possible shorten their lives.

Keep weight low. This along with sensible exercise will help your dog tremendously.

If he is holding up his back leg you need to get this checked out. It could be cruciate injury that will need attention. Do not ignore this.

[quote Scattyhattie]Canine Arthritis Management are a fabulous resource full of information. caninearthritis.co.uk/

They have regular live talks with specialists on various topics on their Facebook group, also posted to YouTube. Holly's army is their owner support group, definitely worth joining if a FB user. www.facebook.com/groups/2161091580843717[/quote]
Yes this.

Also stop the ball chasing- it's terrible for his elbows.

Start doing nosework/brain training with him instead. Also swimming/hydrotherapy

Think he landed badly on a jump. He isn’t showing pain but after a walk will hold it up and I see a limp regularly.

Limping is a sign of pain
Get him checked.

Were his parents hip and elbow scored? There are a lot of badly bred dogs around.

You need to focus on managing him for life - weight, exercise etc. Otherwise this is a real welfare issue

We will try and ween him off ball chasing for sure - we try throwing it into water so he can have a swim there too which is no weight bearing
He’s young and athletic in build and he loves to run fast and free so any ideas welcome.
Any ideas on how to train him to wait then go looking for the ball or other outdoor games that could work for him- Any links welcome. Thanks

@wintershereagain my dog is also ball obsessed, all he wants to do is chase the ball, we have one of those ball launcher things. If we didn't take the ball out on walks then I'm not sure how else he would burn all of his energy because he is so full of beans! I would struggle to remove the ball throwing from my dogs life because firstly, it's his true love and I would hate to take it away from him and also, he can be a bit full on with other dogs and his recall can go out the window but as soon as he see's I have the ball, he will always come back, so the walks we do go on without the ball throwing planned, I've always got it in my pocket for when he decided to run for another dog with a worried looking owner. He's a staffy cross with an English Bull terrior, so not everyone appreciates him charging forth! Our last dog had arthritis and was on Metacam for her joints, we still have some left so occasionally give it to our current boy if he's looking stiff. We also have supplements which go in his breakfast called Jointsure (amazon and more active ingredients than Yumove which is what we used to use). Also we feed him Eukunuba jogging and agility food which is good for joints and higher calorie so that he maintains his weight with all the running he does.

Thanks dogmam that’s our dog ! the ball is his absolute love and passion and uses his energy and gets his heart going . I’m trying to limit it as much as I can without breaking his heart 8
! But he just walks in front of me waiting for the ball even If I don’t take it with me so end up with little exercise ! I’ve tried other ideas with him in the park he’s just not Interested

Honestly please stop the ball throwing. My dog is also ball obsessed and we still give her a ball but she’s happy now to potter around with it. Look into the effects of ball throwing on their joints if you don’t believe me. They might be sad now but you’ll regret it big time down the line (I’m hoping we’ve caught it in time) if your dog is in agony and have to make awful difficult decisions. It is brutal but there it is. I wish someone had told us!

My dog is ball obsessed and we do throw it for him.

But we make him sit/stay or do a trick before we throw the ball. We then walk off and he will run around us in circles waiting for the ball but the anticipation is what gets him the exercise. The other thing we do is to hide the ball in long grass and make him find it.

Ultimately he still gets to chase the ball but it's broken up by lots of ball activities that aren't just chasing it.

@Wintershereagain

We will try and ween him off ball chasing for sure - we try throwing it into water so he can have a swim there too which is no weight bearing He’s young and athletic in build and he loves to run fast and free so any ideas welcome. Any ideas on how to train him to wait then go looking for the ball or other outdoor games that could work for him- Any links welcome. Thanks

Running fast is great and good for him. What is not good for him is slamming on the breaks to pick up the ball or twisting and bending to chase the ball.

So as said above running to a still ball (in moderation) is ok. Until you have taught a wait hold his collar or harness until the ball is still and then release to ball.

Same thing one person hold the dog, the other go and hide the ball, let him see you to start with and build up the difficulty. If he is restrained to start with he will be really keen to find the ball.

Teaching a wait
Ask for the position eg sit and reward him,
keep rewarding him until you give a release word eg ok.
on the ok throw the treat away from him so he has to move to get it.
If you repeat this enough times and increase the length of time until you say ok you will have a wait.

the ball is his absolute love and passion and uses his energy and gets his heart going this will make it soooooo much easier to engage in other activities than just chasing the ball. Sniffing out the ball will use up way more energy than chasing and also make sure he is not hurting and damaging himself after each session

tbh if you did remove the ball totally you would see a calmer (and maybe happier) dog. Balls really do up the adrenalin for many dogs and actually make them more hyper. What you are reading as pleasure is high drive emotion. Hard to live in that state all the time.

Owner of collies, wc and labs here so speaking from personal experience