Could YuMOVE supplements help my dog?

The dog YuMOVE is drawn up for thinks about the stairs at bedtime or the jump into the boot. Walks are shorter than they were last year. It also suits a big young dog still growing, and a working or sporting dog covering real mileage. A dog who is limping or looks uncomfortable should see a vet you trust first, and YuMOVE then sits alongside that care.

Every tablet is built on green lipped mussel, a shellfish farmed off New Zealand. The mussel carries omega-3 fatty acids, among them EPA, DHA and the rarer ETA, and those fats help soothe a stiff joint. ActivEase is YuMOVE's own cold processed mussel, which protects those fats. Glucosamine supplies building blocks for cartilage, and hyaluronic acid is part of the fluid that lubricates a joint. Manganese and vitamins C and E support collagen and protect the joint.

YuMOVE cite a double blind, placebo controlled study run with the Royal Veterinary College, in which dogs wearing activity monitors showed a measurable improvement in mobility over six weeks. That is why they promise the difference in six weeks or your money back.

The four tablets differ by the age of dog they are drawn up for and by how much of each active ingredient they carry. Put side by side, the choice is fairly straightforward.

YuMOVE Joint Support for Young & Active Dogs is the one for a dog who is still growing, or one who works for a living. YuMOVE clear it for all breeds from eight weeks old, and they frame it around supporting active joints and recovery after exercise. A tablet holds 150mg of ActivEase and 124mg of glucosamine HCl, with 26mg of vitamin E, 16mg of vitamin C, 12.5mg of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine, 5mg of manganese sulphate and 1.4mg of hyaluronic acid. That vitamin E figure is the highest of the four. A terrier stops growing long before a big puppy does, which makes big puppies the obvious candidate. Large and giant breed puppy feeding covers what that asks of the bowl.

YuMOVE Joint Support for Adult Dogs is the standard tablet and the usual starting point, aimed at dogs from two to seven of any breed. Each one carries 250mg of glucosamine HCl, 150mg of ActivEase, 13.1mg of vitamin C, 3mg of manganese sulphate, 1.4mg of hyaluronic acid and 0.5mg of vitamin E. It holds the same mussel as the young dogs' tablet with roughly double the glucosamine, which is the shape that suits a grown dog in ordinary work. A fit six year old Labrador in the middle of his life is the dog it was drawn up for.

YuMOVE Joint Support PLUS for Dogs is the step up, for that same two to seven age range. A tablet has 250mg of glucosamine HCl, 175mg of ActivEase, 19.6mg of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine, 13.1mg of vitamin C, 3mg of manganese sulphate, 1.8mg of hyaluronic acid and 1mg of vitamin E. Set against the standard adult tablet, that is 25mg more mussel, more hyaluronic acid, more vitamin E and a second form of glucosamine the plain tablet does not include. It is the one to pick for a heavy dog who is slow getting up after a long lie down, which is a familiar sight in a middle aged German Shepherd.

YuMOVE Joint Support PLUS Max Tablets is the strongest tablet YuMOVE make, and they aim it at dogs of seven and over. Each one holds 250mg of glucosamine HCl, 200mg of ActivEase, 23.5mg of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine, 20.9mg of fish oil, 13.1mg of vitamin C, 3mg of manganese sulphate, 2.6mg of vitamin E and 2.2mg of hyaluronic acid. The fish oil is the addition worth noticing, because it puts more EPA and DHA in beside the mussel. If your dog is at the stage where the walks have quietly got shorter, feeding an older dog is worth reading alongside this.

The PLUS and Max ranges also come as a soft chew YuMOVE call Bites. That is the answer for the dog who finds the tablet in whatever you hide it in and leaves it on the kitchen floor.

The amount goes by weight. YuMOVE give one tablet a day for a dog up to 15kg, two from 16 to 30kg, three from 31 to 45kg and four above 45kg. For the first month they double that, then you settle to the daily amount. Give it with a meal.

So weigh your dog before you start, and our guide to portions and body condition covers what to feel for over his ribs. Expect to see the difference by six weeks, which is the window YuMOVE guarantee. On day one, film him getting up off his bed, because memory is generous over six weeks and a video is not.

Weight is the biggest lever any owner has, because every extra kilo travels through the same joints on every step. Our guide to helping an overweight dog slim down has the practical version, and a recipe built for weight management keeps dinner looking like a proper meal.

Where he sleeps matters too, and a supportive bed holds its shape under a shoulder and a hip. Our guide to choosing the right dog bed covers what to look for, and the beds we rate are in one place.

Keep the exercise steady, because several shorter walks across the week are kinder than one big push on a Sunday. If you want the bowl pulling its weight alongside the tablet, the Food Finder narrows the field by age and size and by what your dog actually needs from a recipe.