Hi - I've got a couple of hopefully simple questions re: feeding:

1) My dog is a 72 lb lab-mix - just over 2 yrs old... do you guys recommend any kind of glucosamine joint formula food additive as a preventative? Does that help stop joint problems from popping up later in life and keep everything healthy and strong, or does it not work as a preventative in that way? (he doesn't currently have any joint problems)

2) I've always fed him some raw food, but usually about 50% of his diet has been kibble - always the high-quality brands (currently Evo). Recently though, I scored a really good deal on high-quality whole chickens so he's been eating almost entirely raw food (and is loving it, and his energy level is higher too!) Daily I'm feeding him 1 lb of rmb from the whole chickens, 12 oz of grass-fed ground beef (they raise grass-fed beef around here so I can get it for a good price), 4 oz beef liver, and salmon oil and vit E. Twice a week I'm throwing in an egg, and once a week I'm giving him a can of Evanger's mackerel, and that's it. My question is: do you guys think that's a fairly balanced diet? Should I add in some veges, or vit C, or any other supplements?

3) (last question): I'm considering adopting an 8 yr old GSD - I haven't met her yet, but apparently she's got a slightly gimpy hip. I've been told that she's ok during normal activities like walking, but if she runs hard playing fetch or something, she's often pretty stiff the next morning. The owner also told me that she's recently started on joint medicine and it seems to help. The question is: what other dietary supplements would you guys recommend for this? There's a bunch in Ed's online store: Syn-flex, joint oats, grand flex, MSM, yucca, etc...

Thanks for all your help!

Matt

On #3 I can tell you what helped a 7 yr old GSD a friend adopted several years ago -- alfalfa tablets.

RE: #3. I have 2 of the 3 senior K9's in our company at home (GSD @ 10 yrs and Golden @ 11 yrs). I started them on Hill's Prescription j/d which is a joint formula and it works as advertised. They both still work at their jobs (explosives for the GSD and drugs for the Golden) and act and run like 2 year olds.

I also exercise them daily with a morning 30 min walk and an evening 30 min walk so they are not crated too much.

You can check with Hill's to see if they have a promo available for your K9.