I have a 2 year old lab female. She is in great shape and completely healthy, but thinking about getting her on supplements just to help her out as she ages. She was a rescue as a puppy, so I have zero idea her lineage, or anything else. All I know is she is a phenomenal dog with lots of energy.
Currently I feed purina proplan year round. I try to run her 4-10 miles 3X a week, plus fetch exercises couple days a week. During hunting season we stop formal training and runs, but hunt 5-6 days a week.
Had our annual checkup 2 weeks ago and the vet says she is looks great and zero issues with our training plan. I forgot to ask about supplements, and don’t really want to pay for a TeleVet appointment just to discuss supplements when I know there’s others that may have just as much knowledge and personal experience with them. .
Because she runs so much, I’m most worried about joints as she ages. Does anyone feed any special supplements, or just a basic dog glucosamine? What do you prefer/suggest for active working dogs?
I was looking into alpha dog nutrition line, but am open to other suggestions.
I gave my Vizsla Blaze a multivitamin much of her life. The brand changed constantly depending on price and reviews. Other than that glucosamine and omega 3 for her skin and coat. and for a few years I had her on probiotics. But all those other than the multivitamin were not started probably until double digit age. She lived past 16 and active all her life. Note I also take human versions of all 4 of those. As for two years old though, I see that as just a pup and would expect her to get everything she needs from a good diet as long as it is not mostly grain based. Some of the better foods like Pro Plan and Blue Buffalo will already have things like probiotics, omega 3, and or vitamins in it.
I really like the Nutramax line of joint supplements (dasuquin and cosequin). Of all the companies selling supplements, they are one of the few that have good research to show that the product makes it to the joint where its needed. I've talked with several vet surgeons and its they most recommended brand.
With my chocolate I had in vet school, who had arthritis, I kept her on Purina J/D.
Given that you don't have registration, OFA certification may not be possible. However, having x-rays done of her hips might give some idea of her potential for developing hip problems later in life. At 2, you really "shouldn't" see hip problems, but its possible.
Lastly, I love Pro Plan. It's all I feed my dogs. It sounds like with the exercise you described you keep her plenty active so her weight shouldn't be an issue. I think you're doing about all you can do right now, but adding a dasuquin or cosequin won't hurt a thing.
I used to give my old lab cosequin after he tore his LCL and as he was getting older, and totally forgot about that. It’s been 5 years now, and that didn’t even cross my mind.
She shows zero signs of issues thus far, I’d just like to get ahead of it in case it becomes an issue later. Prevention if I can.
