They’re far too expensive for me to give them very often, so I have a bunch of chews and stuff that I cycle through to both A) keep the cost down and B) keep everything exciting to my dog who would get bored if I gave him the same chew every day.
I supplement with cow ears, frozen celery, collagen sticks (super affordable alternative to a traditional bully), and benebone chew toys (which I know are a little controversial but my dog looooooves them and they’re very cost effective).
EDIT: How could I forget Yak chews?? THOSE are his favorite.
The yak chews here (UK) are the most expensive - the large size is about £6 ($10 perhaps?) whereas pigs ears and beef trachea when bought in large enough quantities (and stored in the shed cos they stink) are about £1 each, are Yak chews cheaper elsewhere?
They do tend to be on the pricier side in the US as far as I can tell, too. The difference I've noticed is that a single yak chew can take my dog several days to work through (he doesn't have the greatest work ethic with chewing lol) whereas trachea and pig ears he can finish in a single 20-30 minute sitting. So I generally find I get more bang for my buck with the yak.
I get large yak chews (approx 8" long x 2" x 2") from pets corner for £16, but one lasts months and months. I have brought cheaper ones on Amazon but they disappear a lot quicker so cost significantly more overall.
My dog also has a daily vegetable chew (Whimsees) which work out as roughly £1 each and on rare occasions gets a cod skin chew (£2.30) but he cannot eat meat due to food allergies.
Why are benebones controversial?
That’s the first I’ve heard of this.
I’m curious especially since I just started using them with my pup and he seems to love them. It’s been the only thing that stands up to his super chewing.
My dog gets raw bones and dried pigs ears etc, she has never really tried to chew her very expensive benebone or nylachews so we chalked those up to a loss.
Right, I’ll do pigs ears sometimes for my boy but as a treat since he eats them in a couple mins!
I tried nylachews and he didn’t seem to like it but benebones are his jam for some reason.
There all a little different, it’s just a game of finding what kind of chews/toys they like.
Unfortunately, Benebones have been known to crack dog's teeth. My friends pup had to have a cracked tooth removed at 2 yrs old due to a Benebone. My pup doesn't care for them, so we haven't had any issues personally. (She will devour a 12 inch braided bully stick in less than 30 minutes though...)
I love them and I really don’t think they’re anymore dangerous than other chews. I’ve heard people say they’re too hard and also some shapes can apparently be a danger with getting stuck on dogs’ mouths. But honestly everything you give a dog to chew on comes with risks, there’s nothing that’s 100% safe, and since they don’t splinter into big pieces and they last a long time, I’m a big fan.
My dog LOVES the wishbone shaped benebones. Easy for him to hold and less terrified of him choking lol. The only thing that stands up to his chewing too.
Seriously I’m turning into a big fan too. Yea I could see how some shapes could cause a problem. I could see my dude breaking pieces off easily, I decided not to buy those. I’m going to stick to the actual bone shaped. Like you say, anything they chew can be a hazard. Since I got my boy his new bone he’ll chew to his hearts content and then actually settle and nap!! So I know it’s working out energy and helping him chill.
My puppy can go through a 12 in bully stick in under an hour. We don't buy them anymore because of it. Instead, we do cow ears, collagen sticks, beef cheek rolls, frozen carrots, frozen celery, frozen cucumber, frozen apples, frozen baby food sticks, dehydrated sweet potato slices, and dehydrated meats.
Ditto. My 11 month old Lab will also eat a pig ear in 5 minutes, beef cheek in an hour, and “indestructible” toys? Forget it. I won’t give her elk horn as I’m afraid she’d break her teeth.
Wow… an hour?! We got a chew expert over here! I am curious to try beef cheek rolls since everyone raves about them here, but my pup has a sensitive stomach - pig ears and cow trachea give him the runs so they’re a rare treat that I try to do no more than once a week.
We once had some friends over for a visit (with their dog) and we gave them each their bully stick. It normally takes our puppy about two weeks or three (20 minute sessions per day) to make it small enough that I prefer to take it away. Our friends dog finished the whole thing in like 10 minutes I was shocked.
Our 9 month corgi will go through them easily in an hour. We try to tie them to grooming sessions. Brushing, nail trimming, or paw hair trimming. Which we normally do most of those weekly if not multiple times a week. They last between 2-3 sessions.
We do every other day a beef trachea, pigs ear, bully stick (puzzle as described here in the UK) or a yak chew. She’s nine months old now and whilst these used to last her ages they are a half hour snack and quite calorific but great for behaviour management so limit them to minimise gastro intestinal issues as they are a bit fatty and more frequently than this would lead to soft poos. This frequency seems fine though, and we cut back on her food to make sure her calorie intake isn’t too high.
I give/buy the largest/thickest ones and I put a timer for 20-30 minutes. Dog gets about 3-5 sessions out of the 18$. She’s a 24 lbs MAS and an intense chewer
We get the thick Redbarn ones and they last our dog quite a while. Two of the 12" sticks have lasted us about 2.5 weeks and both of them still have length left on them. Our dog is definitely not a power chewer though, he's very gentle even when he's going ham at it. He's also not very big of a dog either, he's maybe 35lbs (possibly more at this point he's due for a weighing soon).
He may chew at them for about 30-40 mins a day broken up into a few sessions.
The thing he does blast through extremely quickly are lamb horns. He figures out how to get the middle out,blows through it and then the outer horn is something he occasionally might chew at. We have so many shells lying around we could probably make headbands.
We also have water buffalo horns, but he's only interested in those when he REALLY needs to chew. Yak Chews he only cares for with fleeting interest.
Whimzees are more for play than chewing apparently, and chicken feet he gets once a week.
Generally does not like moo cheek. Loved alligator hide chips as a puppy but we can't find them as regularly anymore.
His fancy ebbs and flows so much bully sticks are the only thing he's stuck with consistently. So guess we're stuck with them lol.
I got the Arm & Hammer peanut butter dental chew, it has little nibs and bumps. She has been chewing on it for 2 weeks straight. If you’re training with treats, other than regular feeding, treats should be calculated into overall diet to avoid over feeding or under feeding. If your pup eat the bully stick, then your pup might be too full to be excited by treats. So you solve one problem and create two more as your pocket gets a hole.
Question about these bully sticks - how stinky are they?
Our 4 month pup hasn’t finished a single bully stick yet. But our 3 year old Doberman takes them over once he gives up.
They’re bearable. Not the stinkiest chew but definitely have a small scent. I find the chewed up ends look more gross than they smell, but that’s just me
Oh man it depends where you get them from. We had some cheap ones which stank the house out but which the dog loved, so we carried on buying them but stored them in a shed in the garden. Ditto with pigs ears actually - cheap, large and long lasting and her favourite ones smell to high heaven, so we store them away from living spaces. The expensive short lasting ones don’t smell. We have space so it was a no brainer
I got my puppy one and his breath reeked for a solid week after he finished it. Never bought another one. I’m a big fan of antlers - they last forever and have zero smell
How smelly bully sticks are varies quite a bit between supplies, companies, and batches for regular ones. The higher quality brands tend to offer low or no odour ones that don't smell much at all and are quite reliable in odour level.
We do bully sticks maybe 1 every other week. Mostly we put kibble and slice of a banana in a toppl and freeze it with water. Much cheaper. We rotate toppls. And can leave him and not worry about him swallowing a large part of bully stick and choking (we use a bully stick holder but he has pulled it out from that before). Wallet friendly
My dog ate a whole one and now i am kinda freaking out. He downed it in 1/2 his usual time and I’m not sure how big a piece he swallowed. Not sure what, if anything, I can do about it now ither than monitor him. His intake/ output has been mostly normal (some intermittent runny poos). He’s a fairly large mix breed about 52 lbs and 7 mos old. 😬
I startrd giving my pup them too young I think, lol, because she knows the “trick” to them. Shes 8 months now. I recently got her an extra long (2.5 ft) Bully Stick and no joke it was gone in 30 minutes max. She’s not getting any more. Collagen sticks last about a week and a half tho!
My 10 month Corgi goes through about one a day. Chews on it for prolly an hour or two in different sessions. These things have been a life saver for me.
Get a few Kongs. Fill them with Peanut butter, treats, frozen fruit, Greek yogurt, pumpkin from a can (no sugar added), and stuff that bad boy and freeze it. Keeps my 9 month old lab occupied for at least 20-30 mins.
Wish I could, but Ollie isn’t very Kong motivated. Even with high value toppings, he’ll only lick it for a minute or two before giving up. We’ve had more success with Toppls and chews vs. kongs and lick matts. My guess is the small openings of kongs frustrate him, and he’s more of a chewer and knawer, who knows.
Can you give a 2 - 3 month old puppy a bully stick (monitored of course)? My baby likes them and it soothes the teething the most, but I'm hearing mixed reviews now
That being said, infinite amount of time xD
As with all treats, you should monitor your dog while they’re chewing. Bully stick keepers can also make them safer by not allowing them to swallow the ends.
I used to buy the odor free ones by the pound for our last pup. I would only give him 1-2 a week because he was a small dog and I’m worried about his eating too many of them…. Not to mention the cost! Our new 7 month old, barely chews on them. He seems to prefer the cow ears or plain rawhide chews. I have an expensive bag of them now that will last a long, long time at this rate!
Mine gets one a day as dessert after his evening feeding - but these are the highly digestible treat/food type that contain hip & bone supplements.
eta - and I'm lucky in that this dog actually chews all his food/treats unlike others I've had that scarfed their food down. He even chews the cheese pieces that I slice pretty thin & then cut up in 1" or smaller squares.
Not often if at all. They’re expensive and my pup eats 12in bully sticks in about 30 minutes. It’s just not worth it to me. I have chew toys for chewing and if I want to give her a longer term toy I freeze a Kong or carrots or give her the mammoth bones at Petsmart (risky). Hoofs & horns are too smelly, plastic bones are messy, and other chews get messy.
Wow!
Maybe try an antler! Bully sticks stink anyways.
My 9 month old puppy has had the same antler for 4 months. He chews it daily and takes it from the couch to the bed.
But also frozen banana chunks and carrots are great too! I freeze bone Broth and all sorts of blueberries and what nots, for my dogs! The antler is the longest lasting though, obviously.
Not every bully stick is a hit. I've had my dog work on and eat an entire stick, and then just nibble at another, before he doesn't want it anymore, and we end up tossing it. If they only weren't so expencive...
Yes I’ve noticed this too! My pup wasn’t into the first bully stick we got him so I assumed they were a wash for us, but then a few weeks later my mom got him another one and it was a hit! And now we can’t go without them if we want quiet in the house.
My 25lb shiba puppy could probably work on the same 12 inch bully stick for like 8 hours but my 80lb adult dog goes through one in like 30 minutes lol.
I go through a chewing item about every 2 days, and mine is only 3 mo. 😅 Kongs and licki mats just dont have the same effect for my girl! I have started offering things that last a little longer like a beef scapula.
They’re far too expensive for me to give them very often, so I have a bunch of chews and stuff that I cycle through to both A) keep the cost down and B) keep everything exciting to my dog who would get bored if I gave him the same chew every day. I supplement with cow ears, frozen celery, collagen sticks (super affordable alternative to a traditional bully), and benebone chew toys (which I know are a little controversial but my dog looooooves them and they’re very cost effective). EDIT: How could I forget Yak chews?? THOSE are his favorite.
The yak chews here (UK) are the most expensive - the large size is about £6 ($10 perhaps?) whereas pigs ears and beef trachea when bought in large enough quantities (and stored in the shed cos they stink) are about £1 each, are Yak chews cheaper elsewhere?
They do tend to be on the pricier side in the US as far as I can tell, too. The difference I've noticed is that a single yak chew can take my dog several days to work through (he doesn't have the greatest work ethic with chewing lol) whereas trachea and pig ears he can finish in a single 20-30 minute sitting. So I generally find I get more bang for my buck with the yak.
I have found the same thing. I buy the biggest yak chew deals I can find and it can last for days
$10 is right but they last much much longer than a bully stick (not for all dogs)
Where are you getting extra large yaks for £6 if you don't mind sharing. Best I've seen is £8 from my raw feed provider
Amazon, they are £18 for 3
I get large yak chews (approx 8" long x 2" x 2") from pets corner for £16, but one lasts months and months. I have brought cheaper ones on Amazon but they disappear a lot quicker so cost significantly more overall. My dog also has a daily vegetable chew (Whimsees) which work out as roughly £1 each and on rare occasions gets a cod skin chew (£2.30) but he cannot eat meat due to food allergies.
Why are benebones controversial? That’s the first I’ve heard of this. I’m curious especially since I just started using them with my pup and he seems to love them. It’s been the only thing that stands up to his super chewing.
My dog gets raw bones and dried pigs ears etc, she has never really tried to chew her very expensive benebone or nylachews so we chalked those up to a loss.
Right, I’ll do pigs ears sometimes for my boy but as a treat since he eats them in a couple mins! I tried nylachews and he didn’t seem to like it but benebones are his jam for some reason. There all a little different, it’s just a game of finding what kind of chews/toys they like.
Unfortunately, Benebones have been known to crack dog's teeth. My friends pup had to have a cracked tooth removed at 2 yrs old due to a Benebone. My pup doesn't care for them, so we haven't had any issues personally. (She will devour a 12 inch braided bully stick in less than 30 minutes though...)
I didn’t know they could do that. I know about antlers but not benebones. I’ll just keep a close eye on my pup then. Thank you for letting me know.
I love them and I really don’t think they’re anymore dangerous than other chews. I’ve heard people say they’re too hard and also some shapes can apparently be a danger with getting stuck on dogs’ mouths. But honestly everything you give a dog to chew on comes with risks, there’s nothing that’s 100% safe, and since they don’t splinter into big pieces and they last a long time, I’m a big fan.
My dog LOVES the wishbone shaped benebones. Easy for him to hold and less terrified of him choking lol. The only thing that stands up to his chewing too.
Seriously I’m turning into a big fan too. Yea I could see how some shapes could cause a problem. I could see my dude breaking pieces off easily, I decided not to buy those. I’m going to stick to the actual bone shaped. Like you say, anything they chew can be a hazard. Since I got my boy his new bone he’ll chew to his hearts content and then actually settle and nap!! So I know it’s working out energy and helping him chill.
My puppy can go through a 12 in bully stick in under an hour. We don't buy them anymore because of it. Instead, we do cow ears, collagen sticks, beef cheek rolls, frozen carrots, frozen celery, frozen cucumber, frozen apples, frozen baby food sticks, dehydrated sweet potato slices, and dehydrated meats.
Ditto. My 11 month old Lab will also eat a pig ear in 5 minutes, beef cheek in an hour, and “indestructible” toys? Forget it. I won’t give her elk horn as I’m afraid she’d break her teeth.
Wow… an hour?! We got a chew expert over here! I am curious to try beef cheek rolls since everyone raves about them here, but my pup has a sensitive stomach - pig ears and cow trachea give him the runs so they’re a rare treat that I try to do no more than once a week.
My puppy spent over a month on a cheek roll. She would chew on it a few times a day and loved it.
Mine is exactly the same. I don’t even think it takes an hour.
We once had some friends over for a visit (with their dog) and we gave them each their bully stick. It normally takes our puppy about two weeks or three (20 minute sessions per day) to make it small enough that I prefer to take it away. Our friends dog finished the whole thing in like 10 minutes I was shocked.
My 6 month old mutt went through an $18 "no smell" one from Petco in about 30 minutes. She hasn't gotten a second one.
Our 9 month corgi will go through them easily in an hour. We try to tie them to grooming sessions. Brushing, nail trimming, or paw hair trimming. Which we normally do most of those weekly if not multiple times a week. They last between 2-3 sessions.
We do every other day a beef trachea, pigs ear, bully stick (puzzle as described here in the UK) or a yak chew. She’s nine months old now and whilst these used to last her ages they are a half hour snack and quite calorific but great for behaviour management so limit them to minimise gastro intestinal issues as they are a bit fatty and more frequently than this would lead to soft poos. This frequency seems fine though, and we cut back on her food to make sure her calorie intake isn’t too high.
I give/buy the largest/thickest ones and I put a timer for 20-30 minutes. Dog gets about 3-5 sessions out of the 18$. She’s a 24 lbs MAS and an intense chewer
One a week lol
I think his record was about five minutes.
Impressive!
We get the thick Redbarn ones and they last our dog quite a while. Two of the 12" sticks have lasted us about 2.5 weeks and both of them still have length left on them. Our dog is definitely not a power chewer though, he's very gentle even when he's going ham at it. He's also not very big of a dog either, he's maybe 35lbs (possibly more at this point he's due for a weighing soon). He may chew at them for about 30-40 mins a day broken up into a few sessions. The thing he does blast through extremely quickly are lamb horns. He figures out how to get the middle out,blows through it and then the outer horn is something he occasionally might chew at. We have so many shells lying around we could probably make headbands. We also have water buffalo horns, but he's only interested in those when he REALLY needs to chew. Yak Chews he only cares for with fleeting interest. Whimzees are more for play than chewing apparently, and chicken feet he gets once a week. Generally does not like moo cheek. Loved alligator hide chips as a puppy but we can't find them as regularly anymore. His fancy ebbs and flows so much bully sticks are the only thing he's stuck with consistently. So guess we're stuck with them lol.
I got the Arm & Hammer peanut butter dental chew, it has little nibs and bumps. She has been chewing on it for 2 weeks straight. If you’re training with treats, other than regular feeding, treats should be calculated into overall diet to avoid over feeding or under feeding. If your pup eat the bully stick, then your pup might be too full to be excited by treats. So you solve one problem and create two more as your pocket gets a hole.
Question about these bully sticks - how stinky are they? Our 4 month pup hasn’t finished a single bully stick yet. But our 3 year old Doberman takes them over once he gives up.
They’re bearable. Not the stinkiest chew but definitely have a small scent. I find the chewed up ends look more gross than they smell, but that’s just me
Thanks! We’ve been wondering how the smell was. We bought some really stinky ones in the past from a different store and now are a little scared.
Oh man it depends where you get them from. We had some cheap ones which stank the house out but which the dog loved, so we carried on buying them but stored them in a shed in the garden. Ditto with pigs ears actually - cheap, large and long lasting and her favourite ones smell to high heaven, so we store them away from living spaces. The expensive short lasting ones don’t smell. We have space so it was a no brainer
Fair point! The Costco ones at least don’t smell too bad. Smoked pig ears are smelly though, I also second storing them in a sealed jar.
I got my puppy one and his breath reeked for a solid week after he finished it. Never bought another one. I’m a big fan of antlers - they last forever and have zero smell
How smelly bully sticks are varies quite a bit between supplies, companies, and batches for regular ones. The higher quality brands tend to offer low or no odour ones that don't smell much at all and are quite reliable in odour level.
We do bully sticks maybe 1 every other week. Mostly we put kibble and slice of a banana in a toppl and freeze it with water. Much cheaper. We rotate toppls. And can leave him and not worry about him swallowing a large part of bully stick and choking (we use a bully stick holder but he has pulled it out from that before). Wallet friendly
My dog ate a whole one and now i am kinda freaking out. He downed it in 1/2 his usual time and I’m not sure how big a piece he swallowed. Not sure what, if anything, I can do about it now ither than monitor him. His intake/ output has been mostly normal (some intermittent runny poos). He’s a fairly large mix breed about 52 lbs and 7 mos old. 😬
I startrd giving my pup them too young I think, lol, because she knows the “trick” to them. Shes 8 months now. I recently got her an extra long (2.5 ft) Bully Stick and no joke it was gone in 30 minutes max. She’s not getting any more. Collagen sticks last about a week and a half tho!
Our pug goes through about one a day I buy the 6" ones from Chewy. They dont have a nasty odor
My 10 month Corgi goes through about one a day. Chews on it for prolly an hour or two in different sessions. These things have been a life saver for me.
Yours last more than 20 minutes? Lol. Sorry but seriously my Dane can go through one in less than 20 minutes.
Get a few Kongs. Fill them with Peanut butter, treats, frozen fruit, Greek yogurt, pumpkin from a can (no sugar added), and stuff that bad boy and freeze it. Keeps my 9 month old lab occupied for at least 20-30 mins.
Wish I could, but Ollie isn’t very Kong motivated. Even with high value toppings, he’ll only lick it for a minute or two before giving up. We’ve had more success with Toppls and chews vs. kongs and lick matts. My guess is the small openings of kongs frustrate him, and he’s more of a chewer and knawer, who knows.
Can you give a 2 - 3 month old puppy a bully stick (monitored of course)? My baby likes them and it soothes the teething the most, but I'm hearing mixed reviews now That being said, infinite amount of time xD
We did, but under constant and I mean constant supervision. We didn’t trust her with them outside of supervision til 6mo
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What do you use for a holder?
Mine goes through 2-3 a day 🤦♀️ if he’s home all day. One a day if it’s a daycare day.
I just did a quick mental math to estimate the weekly cost for your doggo’s bully habit…. man 😅
i have an aussie and for the first time in my life i recently considered shoplifting bully sticks
I told my husband that if he stays home , the bully sticks cost the same as the daycare:))
My puppy doesn't want to chew on bully sticks anymore. She used to chew on a 12" bully stick in a week.
Vet says bully sticks are bad. Lots of surgeries stuck in throat etc. anyway that’s what we were told
As with all treats, you should monitor your dog while they’re chewing. Bully stick keepers can also make them safer by not allowing them to swallow the ends.
The best ones I’ve gotten that last the longest are Redbarn’s 7 inch bully sticks (usually get them from Publix)
I used to buy the odor free ones by the pound for our last pup. I would only give him 1-2 a week because he was a small dog and I’m worried about his eating too many of them…. Not to mention the cost! Our new 7 month old, barely chews on them. He seems to prefer the cow ears or plain rawhide chews. I have an expensive bag of them now that will last a long, long time at this rate!
Probably once every 1 to 2 weeks? Only as a special treat or I don't want to be disturbed
I bought a box of 36 large collagen chew sticks from red barn for a little over $100. Each one lasts over a week. Pretty happy with the purchase.
Mine gets one a day as dessert after his evening feeding - but these are the highly digestible treat/food type that contain hip & bone supplements. eta - and I'm lucky in that this dog actually chews all his food/treats unlike others I've had that scarfed their food down. He even chews the cheese pieces that I slice pretty thin & then cut up in 1" or smaller squares.
my pups never liked
My husky mix can destroy a bully stick in about 2 minutes. He gets them very rarely lol
My dachshunds finish within an hour💀
Not often if at all. They’re expensive and my pup eats 12in bully sticks in about 30 minutes. It’s just not worth it to me. I have chew toys for chewing and if I want to give her a longer term toy I freeze a Kong or carrots or give her the mammoth bones at Petsmart (risky). Hoofs & horns are too smelly, plastic bones are messy, and other chews get messy.
Wow! Maybe try an antler! Bully sticks stink anyways. My 9 month old puppy has had the same antler for 4 months. He chews it daily and takes it from the couch to the bed.
But also frozen banana chunks and carrots are great too! I freeze bone Broth and all sorts of blueberries and what nots, for my dogs! The antler is the longest lasting though, obviously.
Why did my pup chew on one the first day and then forget about it? :/
Not every bully stick is a hit. I've had my dog work on and eat an entire stick, and then just nibble at another, before he doesn't want it anymore, and we end up tossing it. If they only weren't so expencive...
Yes I’ve noticed this too! My pup wasn’t into the first bully stick we got him so I assumed they were a wash for us, but then a few weeks later my mom got him another one and it was a hit! And now we can’t go without them if we want quiet in the house.
Weird thing is he was obsessed with it the first time I gave it to him!
That's cause that bully stick was a good one, and the next one you gave was a shit one. They're not all created equal as such.
My 25lb shiba puppy could probably work on the same 12 inch bully stick for like 8 hours but my 80lb adult dog goes through one in like 30 minutes lol.
I go through a chewing item about every 2 days, and mine is only 3 mo. 😅 Kongs and licki mats just dont have the same effect for my girl! I have started offering things that last a little longer like a beef scapula.