Bully Sticks

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

What are they...really?

[Breanna]

Looks like I'm never buying bully sticks.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Did you doubt it? Any part of an animal that might be thrown away is now made into an expensive dog treat : )

[Judy Gordon]

Isn't that the truth! I buy bully sticks from Pet Smart for Miah, but I've seen them in Tractor Supply and also Super Walmart. Read the label to be sure it's 100% bull pizzle. When she was younger one stick would last a week or more. Now she can devour one in a day or so. They can be smelly, but if it keeps her from chewing the furniture, then I'll keep buying them. I'd like to try antlers or hooves, but they are so expensive. It's true, every part of an animal is now being made into an expensive dog treat. If anyone knows someone who hunts, they could save a lot of money.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I would not buy any food or treats for your pets at Walmart, everything they sell is sourced from China. 

At Petsmart, you also have to be very careful about the country of origin. Look for the words "product of" and the country of origin, just a US address is not enough, as that is usually just the company's sales offices.

[Lynda Kamrath]

They are not the penis.  It is the skin around the penis or the pizzle.  Actually a good use of animal byproducts.  Every animal that dies is used for meat, also leather, and even dog chews.  I think they are rather smelly and insist that the dogs chew them outdoors.  They get twenty minutes on a chew and then turn them back in to me and I put them in a ziplock bag until the next day.  Seems very safe to me (and my vet) as long as you take the small pieces away and put them in the trash.

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

Thanks for your response Linda. Actually, I bought some from Chewy.com when they were having a huge sale and they hardly smell at all. So e of the Himilayan Yak bones she has, are much worse.

[Lynda Kamrath]

I get the large bags of them at Costco,  My dogs love them.  They were just out on their beds in the sunshine, chewing on their bully sticks for 15 minutes.  A bully stick lasts my dogs for three days (usually 20 minutes a day).  They are their favorite treats.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I would be very cautious about any dog food or treat from Costco as it is highly likely the origin is from China.

[Lynda Kamrath]

I have checked these (as I do all dog products) and they are from Brazil.  I just checked again and it says "Range free cattle from South America."

[F, Calla & Luca]

That's better : )

[AndySharon BoomerShaynaMariner]

This is copied from Wikipedia:

Pizzles, or Bully Sticks, are almost exclusively used/produced today as chewing treats for dogs.^[2] They are prepared from a fibrous muscle, which is cleaned, stretched, twisted and then sun dried, oven baked, or smoked. Wood used in the smoking process can impart its aroma to the pizzle. The result is a very hard, 80–100 centimetres (30–40 in) long brown stick, which is then sawed into pieces appropriate for the size of the dog.

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This is from bullysticks4dogs.com

What are bully sticks dog treats made from?

Bully sticks, also known as beef pizzles, pizzle sticks, beef sticks, steer stix, are made from 100% bull penises. Bull penis is a single ingredient of bully sticks. Some suppliers and merchants say that they sell bully sticks made of "beef tendons" or "dried muscles" as that part of the anatomy is a tendon and muscle indeeed, and this may sound less repulsive for some people with psychological barrier thinking of feeding bull privates to their furbabies.
In the beginning of manufacturing process the bull's penis that is usually 23-25 inches long, is removed and cleaned. It is hung vertically for the fluids contained to fully drain. Without these fluids bully sticks are odor free. At the next stage of processing bull penises are stretched, twisted or braided, dried and then may be smoked for flavor. The result is a 30-40 inches long very hard brown stick which is cut into pieces suitable for dogs of any size. Thus you can buy small bully sticks of 4'', large beef pizzles of 30 inches and any length between, such as 5'', 6'', 7'', 9'' and 12''.

 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Thanks, Andy.