Dog arthritis help for a 9-year-old Weimaraner

A joint oil that left your Weimaraner's coat greasy but did nothing for his joints — that's a frustrating combination, and honestly it's more common than it should be. A lot of those oils are heavy on omega-6 fatty acids, which can do nice things for skin and coat but barely touch joint inflammation in a large, older dog who really needs targeted cartilage and mobility support. Most arthritis products are either underdosed for a dog that size, or they're just not matched to what's actually going on in the joint. So let's get this right for him — how old is he, roughly how much does he weigh, and what are you noticing most: is it morning stiffness, trouble on stairs, or is he just flagging earlier on walks than he used to?

That picture — slow to rise, hesitates before stairs, then loosens up once he's going — is classic early-to-mid arthritis, and it's very typical in Weimaraners at nine. The salmon oil failing to help makes sense: fish oil alone doesn't give joints what they need. For a 32kg dog showing this pattern, you want a supplement that combines green-lipped mussel, glucosamine, and hyaluronic acid in doses that actually match his size. Can I ask — has a vet confirmed arthritis, or are you going on what you're observing? And is he on any other medication or supplements right now?

Good — that gives you a clear window to get a proper supplement working before you'd need anything pharmaceutical, and for a dog his size and age that window is worth using well. My recommendation is YuMOVE Advanced 360 for Large Dogs. It's the strongest formulation in the YuMOVE range and it's specifically dosed for dogs over 25kg. It contains ActivEase green-lipped mussel — which has a much higher concentration of omega-3s than fish oil but without the greasiness — alongside glucosamine hydrochloride, hyaluronic acid, and antioxidants. The combination targets both the cartilage itself and the joint fluid, which is why it works better on that morning stiffness pattern than an oil alone ever would. It comes in a chewable tablet, so no oily coat, no smell. Give it a full six weeks before judging — joint supplements take time to build, but most owners of large older dogs notice the morning hesitation easing around week four to five.

Very straightforward. At 32kg he'd be on two tablets a day to start — that's the loading dose for the first four to six weeks — then you can drop to one tablet a day as a maintenance dose once you're seeing improvement. The tablets are palatable enough that most dogs take them as a treat, but if he's fussy you can crumble one onto his food. One thing worth knowing: because green-lipped mussel is a shellfish product, if your Weimaraner has any known shellfish sensitivity just double-check with your vet first, though it's rare to be an issue. Otherwise, no interactions with anything you'd likely add later.

Really glad it helps. Keep a simple note on your phone of how long he takes to loosen up each morning — even just a rough number of minutes — so you have something concrete to compare at week six. It makes it much easier to see progress that's happening gradually. If he's still showing significant stiffness after six weeks at the loading dose, that's useful information to take back to your vet too. Hope he's bounding up those stairs again soon.