@St_Rev i decided weight maintenance and controlled exercise was the way we preferred to go as the supplements market gives me the creepy crawlies. there aren't many great methods of dealing with this stuff out there, and there's a lot of noise. keep us updated tho!
@St_Rev after looking into dog stuff for arthritis, i couldn't find much that looked convincing in support of glucosamine, but the anti-inflammatory omega 3s/epa/dha seemed to show some effect. but, dasuquin was the brand my vet advised if i wanted to try joint supplements.