[Maggie'sVoice]

Yep, totally 100% safe. I give and have recommended Billy sticks to 8 week old pups as well. They are so hard that pups that age can't really do much damage to the bully stick as they are just getting their teeth in and their jaws aren't very strong yet and when they are, they can't take off pieces but just round then down. I just take them away when they are small enough to try and swallow. At 5 or 6 months old I no longer work about that.

 

[Maggie'sVoice]

Okay I'm not trying to beat a dead horse here, but, with Bully Sticks my little guy Teddy (11 weeks) loves the bully sticks. The only thing is he will swallow a bully stick (he did once already) that is 3 inches long (2/3 eaten and 1/3 hard) so is that safe? Watch him, it freaks me out and I try to get it from him but he definitey guards it. I have to pull out the liver treats to get it away from him. He loves the bully sticks occupies him for long periods but can he joke on them or have a blockage.


Has anyone had to have a trip to a vet because of a bully stick?


Thanks

No, not safe, anytime your dog is trying to swallow something that is to large they shouldn't have it. I don't care how digestible it is, it's also a choking hazard at that point. You always have to qualify your dog in everything they do before you deem it safe. So if you know he's going to try and swallow it they shouldn't have it or at the very least get a much larger one and only let them chew for short periods of time and supervise only.

Your pup just may need to be a little older before they realize it's too chew on and not try to swallow and eat it.

 

[Maggie'sVoice]

My trainer doesn’t like them because of the swallowing possibility. She says they can chew them down to 2 or 3 inches and then swallow them.

But even more alarming - my breeder said there is evidence (she didn’t share it with me) that bully sticks can cause aggression in Golden’s. I don’t know if it is documented or just anecdotal but I am now hesitant to give them to our puppy.

LOL evidence that Bully Sticks make dogs aggressive?!? I think your trainer maybe trying to drive home his own opinion. I would like to see this evidence. I know tens of dozens of dogs and puppies that eat bully stick on the regular and have no issues whatsoever. If there were evidence of this nature, I'd think it would be well known as bully sticks are extremely popular.



That's like the old myth perpetrated that feeding raw food to dogs makes them aggressive. Bully Sticks are a high value reward/treat/chew so if your dog or puppy had issues with resource guarding and never corrected it properly then I would see how this can be seen but that aggression would have happened with any high value item.



I have also heard people say that Bully Sticks make female dogs hump things like their beds lol... just makes me laugh so hard at them.