Are bully sticks good for dog's teeth?

My dogs chew on them a lot. Are they good for their teeth?

 

OK, I'll answer..BUT this is just my opinion. I think they are great for thier teeth. Bully sticks are tendons and in my opinion a much better choice than rawhide. I give them to my dogs regularly, along with pizzles and another brand of tendon chews. I also give raw recreational bones to my dogs once a week. My dogs teeth are very clean, no plaque, no tartar. They get excersise working on the raw bones too..it's amazing to watch them work on one and see the muscles they use. There are differing opinions on this though. My conventional vet tells me that rawhide is dangerous, raw bones are dangerous, smoked bones are dangerous...blah blah. My integrative vet is supportive of raw feeding...even the recreational bones (which are weight bearing bones). A friend of mine took her dog to a special doggie dentist and was told that dogs should not be able to have any of the above, that they break their teeth on them.
One of my dogs Annie just broke an outside edge off one of her molars chewing on a big buffalo bone. It's the first time any of my dogs have had anything like that happen. I knew the risks in giving it to her, and will continue to give them to her. In my mind I am weighing the benefits vrs. the draw backs. I believe it is natural for them to chew bones. My traditional vet talks about dogs choking on bones and bully sticks etc.,, the thing is, people choke on food all the time..nobody tells them to stop eating whats natural for them to eat. I asked my vet one time if he could break down for me all the cases he was referring to that he see's. Which ones choked on what? what percentage was cooked bones vrs. raw bones? What did he know about the circumstances? Of course he didn't have that info. I understand his concerns and respect them, I just believe that education plays a role. I understand that if he tells someone "go ahead, feed raw bones" and that dog chokes, has an impaction or gets sick in some other way...that he will be sued, sad, but true.
My personal rules for giving chews is that I am always present, I don't give them something to chew on and leave, ever. I am picky about WHAT I give, and I give in moderation. I look for natural, no chemicals added, no colors added, no flavors added, made in the good ole' USA. I do believe they can get impacted if you give them too much at a time. It takes time for their systems to break it down...too much is not a good thing. I don't buy the funny shapes..no figure eights, no circles, no X-mas wreaths etc. I have had a dog get a circular one stuck on the roof of their mouth and it wasn't fun for either of us. The braided ones, as long as they are straight, last longer.


More than you asked for huh? LOL, hope this helps =)
Maisey

 

I agree with Maisey. I don't know how good bully sticks are for their teeth, but it is one of the only commercial chews I will get for my dogs. I never, ever give rawhide. I also avoid any of the smoked bones, but my dogs get bones every day in their meals so I don't need them.

I have heard that the weight-bearing bones of large animals can break their teeth - like Annie's buffalo bone did. But other people say this rarely happens. My dogs crunch up raw chicken, fish, pork, and beef bones on a regular basis. The beef is usually ribs, though, not the legs. They also have deer legs given to me by a hunter (quite gross, actually).

I used to get the jumbo (HUGE) bully sticks before my dogs ate raw. But they are just too expensive. Nala can chomp through one in about 5 minutes flat (or less), so now they are only used for the occasional treat.

I confess I have had a difficult time finding appropriate things for the dogs to chew on in the house. I have ended up letting them chew on the hollowed out bones that you buy stuffed from the store. After they get all the stuffing out, they like to chew on the bone. I also got a huge "turkey leg" thing that is supposed to be for giant dogs, and they haven't managed to destroy that yet. They love the edible Nylabones, but again they are too expensive for how long they last and I don't like all the crap they put in them.

My backyard contains a few "leftovers" from meals. Usually they consume all the bones, but beef ribs take a lot longer to finish so a lot of times my dogs go outside and find an old beef rib and chew on that. Emma May (former foster) loved those things. She found one within seconds of being in my backyard and would lie out there forever chewing on them. And she learned really fast that she had to drop them before coming into the house.

 

I don't know where y'all get your bully sticks and pizzle sticks from, but the ones I've seen in stores are definately not tendons. They're bull or steer penis's and they stink like urine. No way would I give my dogs one of those things. His breath is bad enough as it is.

 

LOL, pizzles are bull penises and I have never seen one that smelled like urine...ever. Bully sticks are tendons.
I buy mine at work. The tendon strips I buy most often are by a company called Old West Treat Co., I tried to locate them on-line to show you....but that specific item was never one of the ones pictured by that company.

Speaking of treats....we recently started carrying "Quackers", they are 100% duck breast strips, kinda like jerky. MY DOGS LOVE THEM! So much so that Dooley managed to get into the cabinet(something he has never done before), open the treat tin, and steal the whole package. He ate them all and frankly, I don't think he really cared much about getting in trouble for it! He had that "whatever..it was worth it" look in his eye. LOL

 

I have given my dogs bullies, and the pizzles before and they only last a few minutes.
I have given my dogs raw beef and pork ribs, Knuckle joints, leg bones and all sorts of mostly beef meaty bones. Duncan has chipped both lower canine teeth but I am unsure if it was from the raw bones or the few times I gave them leftover beef rib bones, ( ) I know bad me.
Dowser breaks apart every type of bone except the bigger joints, but they sure look like they have been through a grinder once he is done.

They like the Bully Bones but not near as much as the regular Raw Hide chips.

 

Jake just broke a tooth on a cooked beef bone, the ones you buy at petstore, so no more, I tried bully sticks, and he doesnt chewed like a normal dog, he had it half chewed, and thenand swallowed the other half whole :? :? in like 5 minutes. I think they would be good for smaller sodgs, Wylie chewed hers like a normal dog should

 

This is probably a stupid question, but what is exactly wrong with rawhide cews? Does it have to do with digestion?
I know from reading on here that most ppl don't liek giving their dogs them. I don't either, but I have no real good argument against them to use on my mother. she knows that its not good for Loki, but down plays it.
plz give me a good argument to take to her. It wouldnt be aproblem if he was lving soley with me, but he spends they days with me and nights with her cause of crime in the area.

g'day

 

Rawhide is treated heavily with chemicals and as the chew it it can become a real choking hazard. As it is chewed it gets slimy and can be swallowed, my uncle's dog choked on a piece of rawhide once and I another members dog (I think it was pomlovers dog) also choked on a piece.

 

Digestion problems, choking, and possible poisoning are my arguments against rawhide. Here is a page to look at:

http://nmnm.essortment.com/rawhidechew_rbzt.htm


And info from another one:

Now, that page also said that bones are dangerous, so I don't know whether to trust all the info or not. For instance, the info on cow hooves seems suspect because they talk about splintering or breaking a tooth, which is also what a lot of people say about bones which is not true if they are raw.

I also wouldn't worry about the dogs getting salmonella from beef or pork products, although the humans DO have to worry and should always wash hands after handling these things.