Both my dogs are on the glucosamine/chondroiton and so far we haven't had to go to rimadyl. Ricca started acting like her left hip hurt when going up the steps recently, she's 6 and a German Shepherd. Logan, he's 3, has had bad hips from the start. I ran out of the supplement and kept forgetting to pick it up, plus the best deal on the one I use is 300 count for $70. Got some 2 days ago, so we'll see if that helps her out going back on it. She had been off it for about a month.