# Chew treats for puppies - are bully sticks bad?



## momo_ (Dec 15, 2014)

Also, if I use a bully stick to redirect inappropriate biting, how long before I take the stick off him? He obviously can't have all of it each time?


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## momo_ (Dec 15, 2014)

Another concern is I don't want him to develop food aggression. I took it away from him once, he was fine, the second time I tried to trade with some chicken, he just ate the chicken from my hand while holding onto the bully stick in his mouth! I had to really pull it out, made him sit and leave it, then allowed him to take it. I'm not sure if I did the right thing. He keeps relocating - eating it on his mat, in the crate, by the door, in the kitchen, asked to go out, came back inside, and now he's settled, chewing away at my feet. I can pat him while he eats it. It's hard to try the trade game because it seems nothing is of higher value than the bully stick! How do I take it away after it's a soggy white mess? I don't want him to think I'm just taking away his food..

(nevermind he ate the white stuff too)


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## Chritty (Aug 17, 2014)

I can't tell you about the bacteria or the calories but this is my experience. 

Millie loves Bully sticks. At Sunny's age she couldn't each much of them. We would give her one a week. At the end of the week there was usually plenty left, so we were just throwing it out because of "freshness". The White stuff looks gross and Wifey wouldn't touch it lol. But it's just what happens to them. 

The ones we would buy are about 8-9" long and $4 each from a brick and mortar store. Millie would take it where she pleased. 

Now that she is older and has stronger jaws we haven't given one in a little bit. She will widdle a stick down to about 3" and then swallow the bloody thing!!!! So now more for now. 

Make sure you throw it out before Sunny can swallow it.


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## Marcus (Aug 24, 2014)

These are the only things that keep him going for longer the 10 minutes. He chews on these for hours. I give him one when we go out.


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## Moose15 (Feb 12, 2015)

I don't have anything informative to say about your concerns, just a little input on chew options.

I just went to the local shop last night and got quite a few bully sticks as they were having a sale.

I also got several packs of the himalayan chews, and those have been highly recommended to me. Once they are eaten down with little left you can put them into the microwave for 30-60 seconds and they puff right back up for a little more chew time.


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## Rundlemtn (Jan 16, 2015)

Hi, just read a bit more about bully sticks after your post. They are 88 calories per 6 inch stick. You could just adjust Sunny's meals to account for the bully stick. Or give him a little bit extra exercise. Or if you notice him getting chubby, cut back on the treats etc. As per the bacteria it may harbour, as far as I can tell, it is more of a threat to humans than to your pup. Just wash your hands after handling the bully stick. Rundle finally accepted a bully stick for the first time last night. The first 3 times I offered it she found the smell a bit offensive. But, after dancing around the thing for about 5 minutes, she went to town on chewing. Pretty much did not stop until I had to take her outside to go the bathroom. We traded her for it with treats. I have only done it once, but I hope the trade works again the next time we try it.


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## Rundlemtn (Jan 16, 2015)

momo_ said:


> Another concern is I don't want him to develop food aggression. I took it away from him once, he was fine, the second time I tried to trade with some chicken, he just ate the chicken from my hand while holding onto the bully stick in his mouth! I had to really pull it out, made him sit and leave it, then allowed him to take it. I'm not sure if I did the right thing. He keeps relocating - eating it on his mat, in the crate, by the door, in the kitchen, asked to go out, came back inside, and now he's settled, chewing away at my feet. I can pat him while he eats it. It's hard to try the trade game because it seems nothing is of higher value than the bully stick! How do I take it away after it's a soggy white mess? I don't want him to think I'm just taking away his food..
> 
> (nevermind he ate the white stuff too)


Rundle moved around a lot with hers too. But, she also approached us with it with a big smile on her face. Maybe it's time to find some new treats if the chicken is not working well? Whether or not you give him the whole thing I think depends on how many bullies you are giving him. If you gave him one 6 inch stick, once a day to finish I don't really see the problem. If you want to spread that one stick out over the course of the day, you will need to find a way of trading a high value treat with him, or he likely will develop mistrust when you approach him when he has a bully stick.


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## EChoe88 (Jun 1, 2014)

Emily loves her bully sticks. I get the 12 inch, odor-free, made in the USA ones for $4.49 a stick. Expensive, but worth it. I also give her himalayan chews. Those last a long time. I also like to stick everything in the freezer when she's not chewing on them. I guess it kills the bacteria, but I like it cause it freezes all the white parts and makes it harder for her to chew off. 
As far as taking it away goes, I would just keep trading him, a treat for a bully stick. Just don't give him the treat until the bully stick leaves his mouth.


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## Rundlemtn (Jan 16, 2015)

We just picked up some himalayan chews today. Can't wait to try them.


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## Melakat (Oct 9, 2010)

Too funny. I had heard so much about these bully sticks that just a few days ago I went out on a mission to buy a couple for my puppy Logan. I work from home and want to keep him busy when trying to get work done. So off I go to the pet store and I ask about these bully sticks and a nice young lady at the pet stores directs me to the bully sticks that come in all different sizes and then she proceeds to tell me what exactly they are made from and I am like "okay". Hmmmmm what else do you recommend? LOL - and so I came home with some vegetable chew sticks instead which Logan also loves. I guess I should go back this week and just give in and buy a couple


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## Marcus (Aug 24, 2014)

Melakat said:


> then she proceeds to tell me what exactly they are made from


*shoves fingers in his ears* Ignorance is bliss *la, la, la, la, la*


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## momo_ (Dec 15, 2014)

Chritty said:


> I can't tell you about the bacteria or the calories but this is my experience.
> 
> Millie loves Bully sticks. At Sunny's age she couldn't each much of them. We would give her one a week. At the end of the week there was usually plenty left, so we were just throwing it out because of "freshness". The White stuff looks gross and Wifey wouldn't touch it lol. But it's just what happens to them.
> 
> ...


When it was down to about 4-5cms, I went to take it out of his mouth but he swallowed it! OMG... 
He had dinner after that and pooped okay, so I'm hoping it's alright. Today Queensland is gonna be hit with a cyclone. It's been pouring down raining and Sunny refuses to potty.  


Himalayan chews sounds good! Tried looking them up but they're very hard to find in Australia. So are bully sticks in pet stores.


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## Chritty (Aug 17, 2014)

momo_ said:


> When it was down to about 4-5cms, I went to take it out of his mouth but he swallowed it! OMG...
> 
> He had dinner after that and pooped okay, so I'm hoping it's alright. Today Queensland is gonna be hit with a cyclone. It's been pouring down raining and Sunny refuses to potty.
> 
> ...



You've just learnt that goldens only chew to make things small enough to swallow!!

I tried looking up Himalayan chews too. Disappointing that they're hard to get in Aus


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## Marcus (Aug 24, 2014)

Chritty said:


> I tried looking up Himalayan chews too. Disappointing that they're hard to get in Aus


You're right, these are tough to find.

This ebay store links them but I don't think they have any
Dog Treats items - Get great deals on Dog Treat, Natural Pet Australia items on eBay Stores!



This was a NZ site which seem to have them
Australian Canine Alpha - Himalayan Dog Chew 100% Natural Dog Treat for Dogs For Dogs under 15 pounds


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## jenspup (Jan 2, 2015)

They sell them odor-free? Our Papillon used to love them, but I remember them smelling soooo bad!

Bully sticks are good conversation pieces if nothing else...lol.


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## EChoe88 (Jun 1, 2014)

jenspup said:


> They sell them odor-free? Our Papillon used to love them, but I remember them smelling soooo bad!
> 
> Bully sticks are good conversation pieces if nothing else...lol.


They do! I don't know what the regular ones smell like, but with the odor-free ones, I can't smell a thing unless I stick it right under my nose.
I get them from bestbullystick.com.


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## Loukia (Sep 20, 2014)

EChoe88 said:


> Emily loves her bully sticks. I get the 12 inch, odor-free, made in the USA ones for $4.49 a stick. Expensive, but worth it.


I second the made in the USA odor-free ones! I made the mistake of getting ones from Brazil and I could smell them upstairs. The smell was so offensive that I threw them away.

I also find that the US ones are much thicker and last longer. I will say now that Comet is 8 months old, a bully stick that could last a week or more, lasts about a half hour. Comet swallowed one 3" piece and I still wonder if it's floating around in his tummy. 

To prevent this from happening again, I purchased a toy designed to hold antlers...
[ame]http://www.amazon.com/HuggleHounds-Mighty-Moose-Holder-Antler/dp/B00ATA2XAQ[/ame]

One note about antlers... be careful if you choose to use them. Comet chipped his tooth (NOT on an antler) and when I took him to the canine dentist, the dentist told me to avoid antlers because they are too hard for dog's teeth.


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## Melakat (Oct 9, 2010)

Loukia said:


> One note about antlers... be careful if you choose to use them. Comet chipped his tooth (NOT on an antler) and when I took him to the canine dentist, the dentist told me to avoid antlers because they are too hard for dog's teeth.


Our vet told us the same thing. She has seen a lot of chipped teeth from antlers.


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## Anele (Dec 12, 2014)

Melakat said:


> Our vet told us the same thing. She has seen a lot of chipped teeth from antlers.


Yes, I keep hearing this. I asked my friend who is a vet-- HOW do dogs survive in the wild??? Seems like they get into all sorts of trouble even with natural things. She said, they don't survive long! The average lifespan for wolves is 3 years.

Sigh.


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## Sunshine_Pup (Feb 8, 2015)

Here is our experience with the Bully Sticks:
Sunshine (her nickname is Sunny as well) likes to chew on the Bully sticks but she doesn't do so for long. She chews for a few minutes and then goes on to play with a toy or with the kids. 
We crated her a few days ago when we had to take the kids' to an appointment and left a Bully stick in there with her. We were gone for about an hour and she didn't really chew it (I think she just slept). 
So far, she has had the same one for a few days and has chewed down one end so that it looks white. I asked our pet shop and they said that she could keep that one until either it starts getting too small or really chewed up to the point of needing to be tossed out.


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## lloyddobler (Nov 30, 2014)

I bought a bunch of bully sticks for my dog when he was under 4 months and he got terrible diarrhea. I am not 100% sure if was from the bully stick, but it lasted about 2 days and was a bad enough experience that I haven't tried another bully stick just in case.  However, my guy does love the Himilayan chews... He's an aggressive chewer especially since his adjust teeth have come in and they still last him a long time time (over a few weeks typically). They are expensive, but last long enough to make it worth the while. Antlers were a favorite of his when he had his baby teeth, but he isn't interested in them any longer. Hope that helps!


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