I am referring to bully sticks and flossies. Chewie loves them, will chew for awhile, come back to it later or maybe even the next day, chew some more, and so on. Does bacteria grow on them? I'm just curious if there is a "rule" as to how long to keep them once they have been chewed on. Kind of like the rule for baby food...never feed directly out of the jar unless you plan to use it all...it introduces saliva which spoils the food faster.
Max usually finishes his bullystick off in an evening however I do occassionally find them around the house. If they are little stubs where I think he might get it lodged in his throat I will throw it away.
I never thought about the bacteria - ya know this is a species that licks their own butt!!! and sniffs others :-)
Jackdoodle devours bully sticks and flossies in under 5 minutes, so there is never anything left to keep around. However, his rawhide chips and sterilized marrow bones lie around forever. I keep them in a basket, and he will root around in it and suddenly become interested in a bone he has been ignoring for weeks. I've always done that and never had a problem. I don't think a few days would hurt with the bullies & tendons, but I'm not sure.
I am still trying to figure out how the bully sticks & flossies last so long for everyone else, and don't make it 5 minutes here!
The bully sticks seem to last longer than the flossies. I am assuming his are lasting longer because he still has his baby teeth (???) and once his "big boy" teeth are all in, the chews won't stand a chance. Then is will really start getting expensive!
My dogs love bully sticks, but I limit them to 15 - 20 minutes of chew time (I actually put it on the timer). They are now trained that when I call in the bully sticks they bring them to me and I put them into zip-lock bags and put them away for another day. They take about three sessions on a 12 inch bully stick, and they are big dogs. Of course, they would chew until the bully sticks were gone, but it is too abrasive on their gums. And the smell - I do not leave them sitting around because they stink. The boys take them at the door and outside to their bed for the chewing. When they are back in the house, they are in zip-lock bags.
We've been buying the large dog sampler pack from bestbullysticks.com. Since ordering from there we haven't had the major smell issues (sometimes a slight smell from the bag but nothing too offensive) and the 12 inch bully sticks in the pack last a decent amount of time. The tendons she goes thru a little more quickly but it's a nice variety pack.
Permalink Reply by Kim on September 24, 2009 at 4:11pm
I buy the braided bully sticks for Allie. I'm not sure what they are called, they are not in any packaging. They last 3-4 sessions as well (15-20 minutes each time). I also freeze them when her time is up. I have tried some that MAYBE last 3 minutes - they came in a bag - they seem sort of soft, I won't be buying them again!