The 8 Best Dog Foods with Glucosamine and Chondroitin
Do you have an aging dog, a large breed, or simply one suffering from joint & mobility problems?
Learn about dog foods with glucosamine and chondroitin to improve their well being.
No one likes to see their dog struggle to get around.
Don’t worry, there are dog foods you can feed them to make movement easier.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, but I only recommend products I find trustworthy and you pay nothing extra.
At A Glance: the Best Dog Foods with Glucosamine and Chondroitin
The Best Dog Foods With Glucosamine and Chondroitin
1. Blue Buffalo Life Protection Formula Natural Senior Dry Dog Food
This life protection formula helps support the overall health and well-being of your senior dog.
Not only is it designed to improve mobility issues, this recipe offers high quality protein while limiting the unnecessary carbs.
Top 8 Ingredients: Deboned chicken, chicken meal, brown rice, barley, oatmeal, chicken fat, tomato pomace, peas.
Here are some features/benefits:
- Made specifically for senior dogs
- Real meat (deboned chicken) as the first ingredient plus whole grains, veggies and fruits
- Contains glucosamine and chondroitin to help joint and hip health
- Contains antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals selected by holistic veterinarians and animal nutritionists
- No by-product meals, wheat, corn soy, preservatives or artificial flavors
- While this is the standard size, you can also find this product for small breeds and large breeds on Amazon
- Offered in bags weighing 6 lb, 15 lb, or 30 lb
- Grain-free option available
Keep in mind that with many dog foods, some don’t agree with the stomachs of certain dogs.
As a result, there are some negative reviews discussing vomiting and diarrhea.
You should speak to your vet before changing your dog’s diet.
2. Diamond Naturals Adult Large Breed Real Meat Recipe
This Diamond Naturals formula is meant for the adult large breed dog to help sustain a large body and includes glucosamine and chondroitin.
If you do not know Diamond Naturals, they offer a high quality dog food with holistic nutrition.
The link above is for the Large Breed Adult Dog Chicken & Rice Formula, although you can also select the Large Breed Adult Dog Lamb Meal & Rice Formula on the same page.
Some features/benefits of the large breed adult dog recipe include:
- Real meat protein tailored for a large breed dog
- Added vitamins and minerals, superfoods, fatty acids, plus glucosamine and chondroitin
- No corn, filler, wheat, artificial flavors, preservatives or colors
- Offered in 6 lb, 20 lb, or 40 lb bags
Top 8 Ingredients of the chicken recipe: Chicken, chicken meal, whole grain brown rice, cracked pearled barley, peas, ground white rice, rice bran, chicken fat.
For the negative reviews, customers report gastrointestinal issues, which is common in most dog food reviews.
As discussed previously, speak to your vet before switching your dog’s food.
3. Diamond Naturals Dry Senior Dog Food Chicken, Egg and Oatmeal Formula
This is another Diamond Naturals product, but meant specifically for senior dogs plus added glucosamine and chondroitin.
As mentioned earlier, Diamond Naturals focuses on holistic nutrition for your pet.
Some features/benefits of this senior line include:
- Quality protein using cage-free chicken
- Added vitamins/minerals, vegetables, fruits and superfoods with a fatty acid blend to improve your senior dog’s skin and coat
- Specific probiotics meant for senior dogs
- Joint and cartilage help with glucosamine and chondroitin
- No wheat corn, filler, artificial flavors, colors or preservatives
- Offered in 6 lb, 18 lb, or 30 lb bags
Top 8 Ingredients: whole grain brown rice, chicken, chicken meal, peas, egg, oatmeal, rice bran, dried beet pulp.
For the negative reviews, customers report gastrointestinal issues, which is common in most dog food reviews.
Speak to your vet before switching your dog’s food.
4. Dogswell Happy Hips Dry Dog Food
Though a lesser known brand, Dogswell Happy Hips not only offers plenty of protein, but specifically offers glucosamine and chondroitin for hip and joint health.
In fact, this brand is made to support older dogs, or those with hip & joint issues.
Here are some features/benefits of Dogswell Happy Hips:
- Real hormone-free chicken
- Added superfoods with fruits and vegetables
- Healthy carbohydrates like peas, oats, brown rice and barley
- No artificial colors or flavors, added sugars, wheat, corn or soy.
- Glucosamine and chondroitin to support healthy joints and hips
- Offered in 4 lb, 11 lb, or 22.5 lb bags
Top 8 Ingredients: Chicken, chicken meal, oats, barley, peas, brown rice, natural flavor, chicken fat.
Dogswell Happy Hips has good ratings overall, including reports that it helps with pain and walking.
For the negative reviews, there are some reports of gastrointestinal issues for some dogs.
Speak to your vet on changes to your dog’s diet.
5. Wellness Complete Health Natural Senior Dog Food
Wellness Complete Health is a natural dog food with grained and grain-free options for overall health.
They offer a wide variety of options based on the size of your dog and their life stage.
Besides their puppy formulas, their recipes should all contain glucosamine and chondroitin, including their adult and senior lines.
Here are some features/benefits of Wellness Complete Health:
- High quality proteins and grains
- Contains omega fatty acids, antioxidants, probiotics and taurine for a healthy heart
- Supports joint and hip health with glucosamine and chondroitin
- Contains no meat byproducts, artificial preservatives or fillers
- Offered in 5 lb, 15 lb, and 30 lb bags
Top 8 Ingredients: Deboned Chicken, Oatmeal, Ground Barley, Rye Flour, Chicken Meal, Ground Brown Rice, Tomato Pomace, Whitefish
This senior line of Wellness Complete Health is highly recommended on Amazon.
6. Hill’s Science Diet Dry Dog Food Healthy Mobility (Small breed version)
Hill’s Science offers this product line specifically to support and improve joint health and mobility in 30 days.
They sell one for small breeds and another for large breeds.
The company has a whole team of vets, food technicians, scientists and nutritionists on their staff to develop their foods.
Some of the features and benefits include:
- Claims to improve mobility in 30 days
- High quality protein with chicken meal, but not from chicken by-product meal
- Meant to improve joint health and cartilage with glucosamine, chondroitin, and omega-3 (EPA)
- Nourishes skin with omega-6 fatty acids and vitamin E
- Contains natural ingredients along with minerals, vitamins, amino acids and antioxidants
- No artificial flavors, colors, or preservatives
- Comes in 4 lb, 15.5 lb, and 30 lb bags
Top 8 Ingredients: Chicken Meal, Whole Grain Wheat, Brewers Rice, Whole Grain Sorghum, Cracked Pearled Barley, Brown Rice, Soybean Meal, Dried Beet Pulp
As mentioned in all of my recommended foods, stomach issues are always a possible concern depending on the dog.
7. Diamond Naturals Extreme Athlete Adult Dog Chicken & Rice Formula
This Diamond Naturals dog food is made specifically for the adult athletic dog with added glucosamine and chondroitin.
You get the quality ingredients of Diamond Naturals dog foods such as a high quality protein, superfoods, and antioxidants.
Here are some of its features and benefits:
- High quality protein source from cage-free chicken
- Made specifically for the athletic dog to help develop lean and strong muscles
- Enhanced with probiotics (to support digestion) and superfoods
- Supports joint health with glucosamine and chondroitin
- Helps with their skin and coat due to fatty acid blend
- Offered in 40 lb bags
- No wheat, corn, or fillers
Top 8 Ingredients: Chicken meal, chicken, ground white rice, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), cracked pearled barley, egg product, ground Miscanthus grass, flaxseed
Note: The previous Diamond Naturals products on my list had real meat as the first ingredient, not the second, so I put this farther down on my list.
As with the majority of dog food reviews, some users report stomach issues, so you’ll need to how your dog reacts to it.
8. Diamond Naturals Light Adult Dog Lamb Meal & Rice Formula
This is another Diamond Naturals product with glucosamine and chondroitin, but is meant for the overweight and less active adult dog.
- High quality protein from real pasture raised lamb
- Meant to help reach and maintain a healthy body weight and contains fewer calories
- Enhanced with superfoods and probiotics
- Added glucosamine and chondroitin for joint health
- Contains L-Carnitine to help convert fat to energy
- Helps with skin and coat from fatty acid blend
- Offered in 15 lb and 30 lb bags
- No wheat, corn, or fillers
Top 8 Ingredients: Lamb meal, whole grain brown rice, oatmeal, cracked pearled barley, ground white rice, millet, powdered cellulose, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols)
Note: The Diamond Naturals products in #2 and #3 on my list had real meat as the first ingredient, not the second, so I also put this farther down on my list.
What is Glucosamine?
In general, glucosamine is taken to help relieve joint pain, mostly from osteoarthritis.
Glucosamine is already naturally present in the bodies of both humans and dogs, but can also be taken in supplement form.
It’s meant to help support the health of cartilage, which supports joints.
As a dog’s cartilage wears down over time, so does the production of glucosamine.
As a result, there is less tissue to offer cushioning support between their bones/joints.
Overweight dogs are also prone to developing joint problems at an earlier age since their joints have to work harder supporting them.
Glucosamine supplements may help maintain synovial fluid that lubricates the joints and helps cushion cartilage.
Glucosamine is normally sourced from crab shells, shrimp and oysters or made from plant sources.
By combining glucosamine with chondroitin or other supplements like MSM, it may speed up results.
I also wrote an article on how much glucosamine to give your dog.
What is Chondroitin?
Chondroitin is another popular supplement for osteoarthritis,and is also already naturally occuring in the connective tissues of the body.
This is often supplemented along with glucosamine to treat arthritis.
Chondroitin can be found naturally in connective tissue, like the gristle on animal bones; wild dogs or wolves would already find it in their diets.
For our domestic pets, on the other hand- you’ll have to check to make sure the foods you provide contain it.
What is Osteoarthritis?
There are actually many different kinds of arthritis, but this is one of the more common forms.
Osteoarthritis is basically the wearing away of cartilage supporting bones and joints, sometimes actually leading the bones to rub against each other.
This causes pain, stiffness, and is extremely common among aging humans and dogs alike.
Weight Management
When it comes to older dogs, or any dog for that matter, weight management and healthy nutrition is more important than supplementing for joint issues caused by too much weight.
You can’t treat poor joints if they are constantly supporting more than they are naturally meant to.
On top of that, overweight or obese dogs are much more likely to develop joint problems at an earlier age!
Do Glucosamine and Chondroitin Really Work For Dogs?
There has been a long running debate of whether supplementation of glucosamine and chondroitin has value.
The benefits of using these supplements are still to be determined and require stronger clinical studies.
There are some limited studies supporting the effectiveness of glucosamine and chondroitin with dogs.
In a randomized double blind study of 35 dogs with osteoarthritis, the results showed a statistically significant improvement in scores for weight-bearing, pain and severity.
I also found another report critically analyzing the studies and literature on this topic.
Despite the conflicting information, many vets do recommend these supplements due to the low risk of harm.
Conclusion
I hope that your dog finds relief with these dog foods containing glucosamine and chondroitin.
Hopefully, they will be able to move with less pain and more enjoyment.
As with any dog product, you want to speak to your vet to make sure that these foods and supplements are safe for your dog.
Additionally, check out the positive and negative reviews online for each product.
Let me know if you have any questions or comments.
My 13 yr old beagle: hip and joint issues and over weight. Looking for a grain free with glucosamine and weight mgmt. Any suggestion pls
I found Nulo Senior Dog Food (I get a commission through the link from Amazon) which is grain-free and has glucosamine and chondroitin, but I don’t know it personally. I would also be careful before feeding your dog grain-free food and speak to your vet first.