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Supplement Wise methodology

How we score dog supplements

Every Supplement Wise score is built from one place: what the manufacturer has actually published, and what the research actually shows. No sponsorship, no affiliate rate, no brand relationship, and no price tier can move a score by a single point. This page documents the entire method so you can check our work — and correct it when we get something wrong.

Our principles

  • Absence of proof is not proof. If an amount isn't disclosed, it earns no credit — we never assume a generous dose.
  • We score the formula, not the brand. Two products from the same company can land in completely different bands.
  • Canadian availability matters. Where a Canadian formula differs from the US one, we score the Canadian formula.
  • Nothing here is veterinary advice. Supplements interact with medication and disease. Talk to your veterinarian before starting or stopping anything.

How a product gets scored

  1. 1Source capture. We photograph or archive the physical label and the manufacturer's own product page, with a date.
  2. 2Canonical record. Label text is normalized into a structured record: actives, inactives, amounts, units, forms, servings and package size.
  3. 3Ingredient resolution. Each label name is matched to a canonical entry in our ingredient dictionary so 'MSM', 'methylsulfonylmethane' and 'di-methyl sulfone' are treated as one ingredient.
  4. 4Evidence resolution. Each canonical active inherits its graded evidence for the specific outcome claimed.
  5. 5Validation. Automated checks look for contradictions: dose out of range, blend math that doesn't add up, claims outside the evidence, overlapping weight bands.
  6. 6Scoring. The six pillars are calculated. Nothing is hand-entered — a score is always the output of the engine.
  7. 7Human review. A safety review and dosing review must be completed before a score can be published.
  8. 8Publication. The score goes live with its model version and verification date printed on the product page.

The six scoring pillars

One 100-point score. The weighting reflects what changes outcomes for a dog: what's in it, and whether the evidence supports it.

Active ingredient quality

/ 25

Whether the things doing the work are actually disclosed, in a usable form, at an amount a dog of a given weight would need.

Earns points
  • Every active listed with its own amount and unit per serving
  • Named form and standardization (e.g. glucosamine sulphate 95%, curcuminoids 95%, a named probiotic strain with CFU count)
  • Amounts that land inside published canine ranges for the intended outcome
Costs points
  • Proprietary blends that publish only a blend total
  • Actives present in trace ('fairy dusted') amounts below any studied dose
  • Vague form names where the form changes absorption (e.g. 'curcumin' with no extract detail)

Evidence behind the actives

/ 25

An averaged research grade for the actives, weighted by how much of the formula they represent. We grade the ingredient and outcome pair, not the brand.

Earns points
  • Grade A/B actives: controlled canine trials or strong, directly transferable mammalian evidence
  • Evidence that matches the claim actually made on the label
  • Sources we can link publicly so you can read them yourself
Costs points
  • Grade D/F actives: in-vitro only, single small studies, or tradition-only use
  • Human study evidence used to justify a canine dose that was never tested
  • Actives with no retrievable literature at all (graded UNKNOWN, no credit)

Label transparency

/ 15

Can a reasonable owner reconstruct exactly what they are buying from public information?

Earns points
  • Complete active and inactive panels
  • Country of manufacture and facility disclosure
  • Sourcing detail for the actives and a dated, retrievable manufacturer page
Costs points
  • Hidden inactives
  • No country of manufacture
  • Marketing pages that contradict the physical label

Safety & manufacturing quality

/ 15

Whether the product is made under real quality controls and warns the dogs that shouldn't take it.

Earns points
  • Product-specific third-party testing on file (identity, potency, contaminants)
  • NASC quality seal, GMP facility, or Health Canada VHP/NN number where applicable
  • Explicit cautions for pregnancy, puppies, seniors, and drug interactions
Costs points
  • Testing claimed but never produced when requested
  • Upper-limit ingredients (e.g. vitamin D, iron, selenium) with no ceiling stated
  • Unresolved recall history

Claim integrity

/ 10

Whether the marketing language stays inside what the evidence supports.

Earns points
  • Outcome language matched to the evidence grade
  • Clear 'supports' rather than 'treats' framing
Costs points
  • 'Cures', 'reverses', 'detoxes', 'prevents cancer', or any disease claim
  • Before/after imagery presented as clinical proof
  • Borrowed human research promoted as canine proof

Value & usability

/ 10

The real cost of an effective dose, and how likely the format is to actually get into your dog.

Earns points
  • Cost per effective day in CAD
  • Dosing that scales clearly by weight
  • Formats owners can dose accurately
Costs points
  • Dosing bands that overlap or contradict
  • Cost per effective day far above equivalent formulas
  • Servings a dog will refuse

How we grade evidence

Evidence is graded per ingredient and per outcome, then inherited by every product containing that ingredient. That means a claim is judged the same way no matter who is making it.

GradeWhat it means
AMultiple controlled canine trials supporting the specific outcome at a comparable dose.
BAt least one solid canine trial, or strong, directly transferable mammalian evidence.
CMixed or limited canine data; plausible mechanism, inconsistent results.
DMechanistic, in-vitro, or extrapolated-only evidence.
FEvidence contradicts the claim, or the claim is not supportable.
UNKNOWNNo retrievable literature. Earns no evidence credit — it is not treated as a negative or a positive.

Every graded ingredient has its own page. Browse the ingredient dictionary →

When we refuse to score

A missing score is information too. These conditions block publication outright:

  • No published ingredient panel — We publish no score at all rather than a guess.
  • Actives disclosed without amounts — Undisclosed amounts earn zero credit in pillar one.
  • Safety review incomplete — Score stays unpublished until cautions, upper limits and recall history are checked.
  • Dosing directions missing or contradictory — Score stays unpublished until validated weight bands exist.
  • Source older than the current formula — The product returns to the queue for re-verification.

What the paw ratings mean

RatingScoreMeaning
🥇 Gold Paw90–100Fully disclosed, strongly evidenced, independently tested.
🐾 Green Paw80–89Strong formula with a minor transparency or value gap.
🌿 Light Green70–79Solid, but evidence or disclosure is thinner than it should be.
⚠️ Yellow60–69Works on paper, but several claims or amounts are unverified.
⚠️ Orange40–59Significant disclosure, dosing or claim problems.
⛔ Red PawUnder 40Underdosed, undisclosed, or overclaimed.
❓ Not scored—Insufficient verified label data. We publish nothing rather than a guess.

What never affects a score

  • Sponsorship, partnership, or advertising with Paw Privileges.
  • Retail price, discount level, or affiliate commission.
  • Brand popularity, reviews, or social following.
  • Whether the brand is Canadian (we label it; we don't reward it).
  • Requests from a brand to change a score without new verified evidence.

Supplement Wise is educational. It does not diagnose, prescribe, or replace veterinary care.

Submit a certification or a correction

If we've listed an amount wrong, missed a certificate of analysis, NASC seal, GMP certificate, VHP/NN number, or scored an outdated formula — send it to us. Include the source document or a link to the manufacturer page. Verified submissions are re-scored by the engine, and the product page shows the new verification date. We do not change scores without a verifiable source.

Submit a certification or correctionHow all Wise tools work