I am getting ready to go ahead and put Kodee on the lowest dose of supplement for his joints, just to be proactive. I've read the research and talked to our vet, and I understand that the general consensus is that glucosamine, etc hasn't been shown to prevent problems w/joints, that is just treats the problem once it's apparent. However, since I can't find anything that states that there are negative affects from using glucosamine before joint problems appear, I am planning on going ahead and putting Kodee on a joint supplement. But I'm not sure which one(s) to use. I read the descriptions on Leerburg of Syn-Flex and Grand-Flex, and they don't sound that much difference, other than the form they come in (powder vs. liquid). I would prefer liquid, if has a palatable flavor for the dog, but just want to choose what's best.

Also, I was thinking about using chondriotin. I thought that the combo of that and glucosamine was supposed to be the best thing for joints, but I'm not sure. Just FYI - he eats mainly Orijen Adult w/some raw occassionally, and is on Salmon Oil and Vit E.

Can someone give me their input on which "flex" product is better, and should chondroitin be added? Thanks!

I did a lot of research (ConsumerLab, vet med sites, reviews, Consumer Reports) last year and came up with this, from the thread about the research I did on value and high ratings:

Synovi, Syn-Flex, and Flexicose showed up as good value and high ratings on several vet med and consumer sites.

Synovi was considered to be a less expensive substitute for Cosequin and Cosamine, which are highly rated but also quite expensive.

Flexicose was deemed a Good Value on a couple of sites.

P.S. Leerburg has one of the three that I found to be the best-rated high-value liquids:
http://leerburg.com/49.htm

Medicine/nutrition is usually best absorbed as a liquid or in food. The powder may be easier to deal with though, that's a personal prefrence.

Personally, I feed cartilige for glocosamine/condroiton. I havn't found stats on the chicken feet, but the condroiton stats I found on beef trachea indicated that one 12" pleasure chew was equivilent to several doses of the extracted stuff. I'm just guessing here, but the feet seem to be closer to a single dose. So Maggie gets a foot or three in her meals each day, and a beef trachea (dried and chewy) once a week.

 Quote: Denise Skidmore

Medicine/nutrition is usually best absorbed as a liquid or in food. ...

Yes, there was near-universal preference for the liquid forms.