I swear by Vitamin C and have used it for years. An old time breeder told me about it.
There were studies done with dysplastic dogs a few years back though I can find the link it has been removed at UC Davis. They bred dysplastic dogs to each other and gave the puppies the Vitamin C in high doses. The pups from the dysplastic parents with the supplement had less dysplasia in the litters than the puppies without the Vitamin C.
Some of the new supplements for dogs have the Vitamin C added to it.