Supermarket glucosamine tablets didn't work for my dog — why not?

Unbranded glucosamine tablets from supermarkets are a category I have to be straight about — the quality control for canine supplements is not regulated the way pharmaceuticals are, and many unbranded products either underdose meaningfully or contain glucosamine in a salt form with poor bioavailability. How long did you use them, and was the dose on the label calibrated for a dog his size?

A tiny single tablet for a 35kg dog at low-cost manufacturing standards — the active glucosamine per tablet was almost certainly well below what it would need to be. The therapeutic dose of glucosamine for a 35kg dog is around 750–1000mg per day of bioavailable glucosamine, and a small cheap tablet is unlikely to be delivering that. Switch to YuMOVE Senior — it's a well-characterised formulation from an established manufacturer, the ActivEase GLP mussel extract is third-party tested, and the dose is transparent. You'll see a different outcome. Give it 6–8 weeks.