1,400 mg
Green Lipped Mussel
Supports cartilage, connective tissue and healthy movement.
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For the person who noticed first
You Saw It Before Anyone Else Did. The slower start after a nap. The pause at the bottom of the stairs. Nobody else caught it. You did.
Your dog still eats. Still wags. Still meets you at the door.
But the walk turns toward home a little sooner than it used to, and you have been quietly keeping track.
You have probably already tried something for it. Maybe a few somethings.
Start here
There is a drawer in your house.
Maybe it is a cabinet above the fridge, or a shelf in the laundry room. Inside: a half-finished bag of chews your dog decided he was done with. A tub of powder. Something with a golden retriever on the label that a neighbor swore by.
You did not buy any of that because you were careless. You bought it because you love your dog.
So why does the next jar feel like another coin flip?
Here is the part nobody mentions.
Most of those products are, in the way that matters, the same product.
Glucosamine and chondroitin became the standard about twenty years ago. People know the names. Brands know that people know the names. And they are cheap to make.
So the market filled up with versions of one idea.
Different jar. Different chew. Same playbook.
That does not make glucosamine bad. It means buying another brand is not the same thing as trying a different approach.
If you already have a graveyard of half-used supplements, that is worth sitting with for a second.
And yes, you clicked a Facebook ad to get here.
So a little skepticism is the correct response. We are not going to ask you to switch it off. We would rather show you the research that changed our minds, and let you decide what you think.
In 2010, a group of researchers set out to test whether the standard actually deserved to be the standard.
150 daysStudy duration
Double-blindResearch design
Real family dogsClient-owned
PublishedPeer-reviewed research
By then, glucosamine and chondroitin had been the go-to ingredients in dog joint supplements for nearly twenty years.
But some vets and researchers had become skeptical.
Evidence was piling up that glucosamine and chondroitin might not be doing nearly as much as people thought.
At the same time, a very different ingredient was starting to get attention:
UC-II® undenatured type II collagen.
Earlier studies in dogs had already produced promising results.
So researchers put the old standard head-to-head with the upstart in a 150-day, double-blind study.
And on paper, the matchup looked almost ridiculous:
40 mg
vs.
3,600 mg
Glucosamine & chondroitin
(2,000 mg + 1,600 mg)
A tiny bit of one ingredient against a massive pile of another. It almost looks like they set UC-II® up to fail.
Then the results started coming in.
By Day 150, here is what researchers observed:
Improvement from each group’s starting scores on three observational measures.
| What researchers observed | UC-II® | Glucosamine + Chondroitin |
|---|---|---|
| Overall discomfort | 81%improvement | 51%improvement |
| Discomfort during limb movement | 87%improvement | 48%improvement |
| Discomfort after exercise | 90%improvement | 43%improvement |
Source: Gupta RC et al. Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition 96 (2012), 770–777. Day-150 observational results. DOI: 10.1111/j.1439-0396.2011.01166.x
The harder test
But there was still a problem.
Watching a dog move better is one thing. Measuring it with an instrument is another thing entirely.
Dog owners are hopeful, and hope colors what you see. Scientists are human too, and they can find what they expect to find.
So the researchers built a tougher test into the study.
They found a way to measure exactly how the dogs were using their legs.
That took bias out of the picture.
Every month, the dogs walked across a ground force plate wired to sensors and a computer. The instrument measured how much force each dog actually put through its legs while moving.
The sensors told a much sharper story:
| Objective measurement | UC-II® | Glucosamine + Chondroitin |
|---|---|---|
| Peak vertical force | +120% | No significant change |
| Total force through the limb during each stepMeasured as impulse area on a ground force plate. | +142% | No significant change |
Source: Gupta RC et al. Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition 96 (2012), 770–777. Ground-force-plate results at Day 150. DOI: 10.1111/j.1439-0396.2011.01166.x
The dogs did not just look like they were moving better. The equipment measured a real change in how they were using their legs.
And only the UC-II® group showed significant improvement on both objective measurements.
The obvious question
How does 40 mg of UC-II® outperform 3,600 mg of glucosamine and chondroitin?
Because they are not the same kind of thing. They work in completely different places in the body.
Glucosamine and chondroitin are building blocks. You give a lot, and the idea is that some of it ends up where the joint needs it.
UC-II® is not a building block at all.
It is a patented form of undenatured type II collagen, and its work starts in the small intestine, where it interacts with immune tissue through a process called oral tolerance.
UC-II® works through the gut and the immune system.
It helps support a healthy immune response to the type II collagen found in joint cartilage, which supports comfortable movement.
So 40 mg is not trying to do 3,600 mg worth of the same job. It is doing a different job.
That is also why buying yet another glucosamine formula does not tell you much. You are not testing a new approach. You are testing the same approach in a new jar.
The dogs behind the data
These were not laboratory dogs.
They were family dogs, like yours.
Privately owned dogs already having trouble getting up, walking, and moving the way they used to.
They lived at home with the people who loved them the whole time, coming back month after month to be evaluated.
We owe those families a lot. I know how I would feel putting Cody and Coco through a five-month study without knowing how it would end.
LUVAPUP founder Graham with his dogs Cody and Coconut
Those families did not have the benefit of knowing how the study would turn out. Thanks to them, we do.
Graham, with his four-legged advisor Coconut.
Why we built LUVAPUP
This is the study that got my attention.
Hi, I am Graham, founder of LUVAPUP.
My family has had a lot of dogs over the years, mostly rescues. And like a lot of dog people, we have bought a lot of hip and joint supplements. We were never especially excited about any of them.
I am the kind of person who spends hours researching something before I buy it. I am worse when it comes to my dogs. So when we started looking for something better for the two we have now, I went down the rabbit hole.
That is when I found this study.
The 40 mg against 3,600 mg comparison stopped me cold.
The more I learned about how UC-II® works, and how different it is from the formulas we had been buying for years, the more I wanted to build something around it for our own dogs.
That became LUVAPUP Hip & Joint.
Graham
Co-founder, LUVAPUP
And yes, you can email me at graham@luvapuphealth.com. LUVAPUP is a small family business, not a faceless supplement company. My dad Jim, my partner Jesse, and my sister Sîonan are all in this with me.
SEE WHAT WE BUILT FOR OUR DOGS →
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First thing people ask
Yes, it is the same patented UC-II® used in the study. And the same 40 mg.
The manufacturer licenses genuine UC-II® to supplement companies. We hold a license. Not everyone does.
If you see a brand advertising “UC-II” without the registered trademark symbol, that is worth a second look. The real thing is made with a proprietary low-temperature process that keeps the collagen undenatured, which is the whole point of it.
And LUVAPUP uses 40 mg, the amount used in the study, and the amount required under our license.
Same UC-II®The patented ingredient from the study
Same 40 mgThe amount used in the study
UndenaturedMade to preserve the structure that matters
The rest of the jar
UC-II® is where we started. It is not where we stopped.
We wanted a complete formula around it, without stuffing the jar with ingredients just to make the label look busy.
450 mg
Eggshell Membrane
Supports healthy joint mobility and connective tissue.
150 mg
Boswellia serrata
Supports a normal inflammatory response and comfortable movement.
Why four and not fourteen
We did not want four ingredients doing the same job.
UC-II® brings the gut-based immune pathway. The other three support cartilage, connective tissue, a normal inflammatory response and comfortable movement from other angles.
Two complementary systems in one jar:
System 1
One fundamentally different active
UC-II®40 mg
Gut-based immune pathway. Supports healthy joint movement through a mechanism that works differently from traditional joint actives.
+
System 2
Three complementary actives
Green Lipped Mussel1,400 mg
Eggshell Membrane450 mg
Boswellia serrata150 mg
Joint structure and comfort support. Together they support cartilage, connective tissue, a normal inflammatory response and comfortable movement.
Nothing hidden
If you are paying for an ingredient, you should know how much of it you are getting.
Every active amount is printed on the label. No proprietary blends, which is the trick brands use when the amounts would embarrass them.
UC-II®40 mg
Green Lipped Mussel1,400 mg
Eggshell Membrane450 mg
Boswellia serrata150 mg
Powder, not another chew. Soft chews need binders and fillers to hold their shape. A powder does not.
Not dogs in a study
Dogs whose people bought a jar.
We are a young brand and we are not going to pretend otherwise. Here is what the people using it have said so far, in their words.
★★★★★
Great product! Helped my dog who had a persistant limp for over a month. Within a week of using this supplement my dog was walking better and her overall energy and mood was greatly improved. My dog loves it so much that I hear her licking the bowl clean at every meal! Thank you for creating such a great product and helping my dog live her best life!
★★★★★
I’ve been searching for a joint supplement that wouldn’t be snubbed by my picky eaters. They love it! All three of my dogs are prone to joint and hip issues and this is perfect for them. I also appreciate the speedy shipping. 5 stars for a high quality product!
★★★★★
I can’t believe how much my dogs love this topper. I’m already seeing improvement in my older pup. Amazing product!
Reviews are collected by Judge.me and published unedited, typos and all. Every dog is different, and no supplement works the same way for all of them.
Before you try it
Some of it shows up fast. Most of it builds.
You just read a customer say she saw a change in about a week, and a study where the biggest measured changes came at day 150. Both can be true, because the four actives work on different clocks.
Eggshell membrane and Boswellia have shown early effects in published research. UC-II® works through the gut and the immune system, so it builds gradually. Here is how it went in the study:
Day 60
Significant observational improvement appeared in the UC-II® group.
Day 90
Significant force-plate improvement appeared in the UC-II® group.
Day 150
The largest changes in the study were measured.
So we are not going to promise you an overnight change.
Watch for gradual differences in ordinary dog things. Getting up. Walking. Jumping. Wanting to do more.
That is exactly why we give you 90 days to try it. Long enough to actually find out, and if it does not earn a place in your dog’s routine, you get your money back. No return required. Keep the jar, or recycle it. We are not asking you to pay return shipping to get out of something that did not work.
Your dog still wants to go.
- The slower start after a nap.
- The pause before a jump.
- The walk that turns toward home a little sooner.
Those are the moments that made you start looking in the first place. You noticed them because you pay attention.
Glucosamine is not the only approach anymore. That is the whole reason this page exists.
Cody and Coconut, our family dogs.
You have read the study. The next page is just the jar, the label, and picking the right amount for your dog’s weight.
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We built this for our dogs first. Now we make it for yours.
Individual dogs vary. Joint-support supplements take time. This page discusses published research on UC-II® and is not a promise that every dog will have the same result.