Bully Sticks are Banned from Our House

I used to be a total fan of bully sticks and recommended them to my puppy and training families. I found out about bully sticks from César Milan, tried them, and thought “these are awesome” -totally natural and no digestive issues. My dogs LOVED them!

But then COVID happened. Supply chains dried up. Prices tripled. And they were almost impossible to find. Yet, I did my best to find them for my dogs, and aside from my budget, all seemed well.

Then poof! They were GONE. You could not find them for any price.

They reappeared at four times the original price,but the quality was substandard. You could no longer get thick bully sticks. I was paying top dollar for pencil thin wizened ones.

I began to notice a change in my dogs. THESE bully sticks DID cause major stomach upset. Major diarrhea and seemed to make the dogs ill. Some batches were better than others, but it was a bit of Russian Roulette. My guess was these had bacteria.

So I began to freeze them, thinking that would kill the bacteria. Nope. Just like freezing raw food does not kill ecoli, etc. Those little buggers are survivors..

We called it quits after our nine-year-old Jazz was sicker than I have ever seen her. Granted, she is a poor bully stick candidate , even in the best of times because she tends to swallow the last chunk whole which is not healthy. But this last bully stick caused major vomiting and horrible diarrhea. She had to go on antibiotics, and she is rallying. But gees, Jazz literally has a cast iron stomach and can eat anything. In her nine years this could be her only bout with vomiting and diarrhea.

Instead I am filling synthetic marrow bones with healthy options like applesauce, yogurt, some of their unkibble or fruitables, peanutbutter, or creamcheese. Then they get those frozen treats. Those have never harmed my dogs.

Sometimes we try to spoil our children (fur or human), but what is out there can be harmful.

I would love to know if any of you have had similar issues with bully sticks.

I hope the people that I wholeheartedly recommended bully sticks realize they are not the same now.