Need Vet Advice regarding treatment for my dogs arthritis?

My dog is a 12 ½ year old full size Blue Merle Collie. He more recently has been experiencing bad hip pain; it seems to have gotten worse as the weather has been getting colder. He has already done the 4 cortisone injections and seemed to be doing well until the weather got much colder. I had asked our vet if there is a mild pain reliever we can give him. She prescribed us Dameraxx. We have been doing some research on this drug and considering the side effects are not comfortable giving this to him. I tried speaking to the vet about alternatives, and she had not other real suggestions. I spoke with another vet who told me the first vet prescribed the drug for a reason so we should at least try it. They want us to give him this and then monitor his side effects, by then it will be too late. I would rather look for a more pro active approach. Ideally we were hoping for like a “Motrin or Tylenol Arthritis” but for dogs. Do you have any suggestion are can you offer us any alternatives?