Back in the summer our 9 year old golden retriever Sheba started limping. We weren’t quite sure which of her front legs she was limping on, since it was subtle. This wasn’t all that unusual for her either….occasionally she would hurt herself mildly when playing ball or Frisbee, so we didn’t think too much of it. However, the limp persisted and we became concerned. Early in September we took her to our veterinarian and x-rays revealed the beginnings of arthritis in both of her front shoulders.
Our vet’s recommendation was joint supplements, with the occasional pain killer when we felt it was needed. The goal is to keep her off pain killers as long as possible, and to only use them when really needed. As far as exercise goes, they suggested we let her do whatever she wants as long as it does not seem to bother her.
We took the supplements that our vet recommended but after having Sheba on them for over 3 weeks we had not seen any improvement. When the offer came along from BlogPaws to try a new supplement and join the campaign to promote it, we thought it was definitely worth a try. We received Natural Stride for Dogs Hip & Joint Formula and started Sheba on it immediately. It currently comes in a powder form that we just add to her food. We dish out her regular kibble, add a scoop of the powder, and mix a little water in. She loves it! Not only does she love it, but both Beagles smell it and they also want some! We have to watch Cricket carefully to be sure she doesn’t try to push Sheba out of her bowl before she’s finished!
We were two weeks into giving Sheba this new joint supplement when my sister and I took the dogs for a hike. I was concerned about how Sheba would do hiking. We picked a hike without a huge elevation gain, to reduce any chances that Sheba would put extra stress on her joints going downhill. As it turned out, the hike had a lot of ups and downs, as well as a lot of rocks and roots to scramble over. Sheba never slowed down once. She got into the river a couple of times, and was scrambling out over rocks. I cringed a little each time and tried to direct her to easier ways to get out. I was convinced that in the evening or the next morning, Sheba would need a pain pill. I was wrong. She never showed anything more than a slight limp, nothing more than usual. We were thrilled.
Sheba is an active dog and we want to keep her quality of life all it should be. I don’t want the arthritis to slow her down any more than it has to. She loves to play fetch, and although we’re careful not to let her jump too much, she has been able to keep up all of her normal activities. Natural Stride repairs the joints; it does not just mask the pain like medications do.
If your dog has been diagnosed with joint pain or arthritis, why not give Natural Stride a try? You have nothing to lose, because the company has a 60 day money back guarantee. Natural Solutions for Life is a family owned company with FDA registered facilities in the USA. What impresses me is the fact that joint care is their business. They began with making their products for livestock and horses, and also make a human supplement! It is an all-natural product, and you can see results as we did in days instead of months. Right now their products are available online at this link, and they expect to be in pet stores and retailers in the future. They will also have a chew form available soon. Their prices are competitive and I think you get a better overall value for your money, because it works so quickly.
If you would like to learn more: Visit their website naturalstride.com, and you can also follow them on Facebook and Twitter.
**UPDATE (11/19) The company is offering all of my readers a discount if you would like try their product. Visit their website and use this coupon code: WAG20. This code is good for 20% off any order of dog, equine, or human product through 3/31/14.**
This post is sponsored by Natural Solutions for Life on behalf of the BlogPaws Blogger Network. I am being compensated for helping spread the word about Natural Solutions for Life’s Natural Stride Supplement, but Wag ‘n Woof Pets only shares information we feel is relevant to our readers. Natural Stride is not responsible for the content of this article.
We had the honor of trying out Natural Strides after we won some at the BlogPaws Twitter Chat! Duke has been doing well on it so far. He’s pretty young so we just have him on the maintenance level right now, but he doesn’t seem to mind it in his food one bit!
Oh, that’s great that you won some to try! They really do love the flavor of it, so that makes it easier for sure.
Sounds like Sheba is doing great, glad to hear it! Love Dolly
Thank you, Dolly!
We are using this supplement too and have had great results. Like you, we’ve tried other supplements without seeing much difference. I really liked the powder but am excited to try the chews!
One thing we like about the powder is that we’re less apt to forget to give it to her that way! When we first started her on another supplement which was tablets, I had to make up a calendar, because we kept forgetting to give it to her (old age is setting in here 🙂
My senior dog Lola takes lots of great supplements, but we haven’t heard of these yet. Anything is worth a try!
I always feel safer knowing things are USA made, and when it’s a family company, that just seems better, doesn’t it? We are having our first experiences with senior dogs, so it’s all new to us!
Interesting mix of ingredients. Glad to see Sheba is feeling better with the new supplements.
One of the nice things about dogs is that placebos don’t work on them. So you can easily see what gives them relief.
Very good point, Pamela. We are happy she is feeling better and are hopeful it will continue!
No arthritis here, we’ll probably use green-lipped mussel if it ever does come up though.
I have heard of that, but don’t really know too much about it. Hopefully you’ll never need anything though!
Sounds like a great product. Glad you found something that worked.
Thanks, we’re just so happy to have Sheba feeling better.
I’m wondering whether there might be some pretend limping starting in your house if it tastes that good! Haha
Wags to all,
Your pal Snoopy 🙂
Ha ha, Snoopy, I can just see those beagles doing that!!
Shiner has tried Natural Stride as well and loves it! When I put it in her food, you would think I’m serving her a super special turkey dinner or something crazy lol. Great review!
Thanks, Ann! I know, we couldn’t believe how nuts the dogs go over it either. I think Sheba will miss it if we end up switching her to the tablets when they are available (though I’m sure those will taste good too).
Glad to see Sheba doing so well on this.
Thank you. We know how extra important it is to keep her at a healthy weight with her arthritis, and that is easier if we can keep her active!
Wooohooooo for Sheba!
Thanks, Ku!!
Wish they had a product for cats as well as dogs….sounds like a really good product!
Pam
I know, I wish they had one for cats too! Maybe they will add that someday, I will have to try and ask.
Roxy has arthritis in her knee and back. I’ll have to look into that. She is allergic to glucosomine though.
Glucosamine is one of the ingredients in this product. That’s too bad for Roxy, it must be difficult to find anything that doesn’t have that?
It is funny that every dog reacts to things differently. We tried so many products that others swore worked so well and they did nothing for my sister. Then we tried P&B Joint Supplements, also all natural and they worked a miracle. We are happy these work for you and we love the all natural factor. Mom doesn’t like the powder, the ones Katie takes are tablets that she loves to eat.
I think a lot of these products have some of the same basic ingredients….glucosamine, etc., but each one has a different ingredient that must make the difference for some dogs. I’m glad you have something that works well for Katie!