Millie update at 9 years old

Beginning of May, I received an update for Mille (now 9 years old) from Alison. Millie is from ​Reggie and Smudge's litter of nine puppies. 

"Dear Jane,
I was messaging to wish Millies siblings a Happy 9th Birthday for last Tuesday, but was shocked and saddened  to see that her mum has passed away I am sorry to  hear this.
Rosie has done so well we thought  Smudge was fantastic with her 9 but 11 is amazing I am sure you have your hands full at this stage making sure they all thrive.
Millie continues to be an absolute delight, she has made lots of new puppy friends this year and is now the benchmark as how they want their dogs to be!, she certainly puts them in their place, i don’t think she would cope well with a permanent puppy at home but every time I see your litters it makes me think about another addition. 
I have had the first realisation that she is no longer a young dog, in January she stopped jumping and climbing the stairs and was yelping in pain.  The vet thinks it was either the fact we’d had a long energetic cold walk the day before or the start of arthritis.  She was put on some medication for the pain  and after a few weeks was ok, but we have found by the evening she is not so forthcoming in jumping up onto the settee, stairs are fine and she loves her walks still. I already had her on Yumove moved her up to the senior tablet so at the moment it seems under control but if you have any suggestions would be grateful for that.
I have attached some photos.
Take care, love Alison and Millie xx"

"Hello Alison,
good to hear from you. I will write about losing Smudge on the blog at a later date, but at the moment the suddenness of it has left it a bit raw to talk about at this time.
As for joint supplements. There have been  'studies that have questioned the long-held belief that joint supplements actually work. Skeptics suggest that what pet owners are seeing is a placebo effect rather than a real improvement in functioning. They believe that the pet owners want their pets to feel better, and they believe in joint supplement therapy, so they see what they want to see.' Although there has been some research evidence that they might help and none yet that say that they have no effect at all. Also they are very low risk as vet medications go in giving to a pet.

This articleA Vet Talks About the Best Ingredients for Joint Supplements written recently might be of some value. Also one of the most important things to help is to keep an eye on your dog's weight. Keeping them svetle will really help them with aging. 
Hope this is of some help. Thanks for keeping in touch over the years.
Love from us all at Poundlane
Jane x"