Bully sticks

[Judith and Griffin]

Read all the pros and cons. Got Griffin some bully sticks. Man oh man he loves them like nothing else! We actually were able to get some things done w/o worrying about what he was up to :-)  We gave it to him for a bit every day. One day he had about 4 inches of it left and swallowed it whole.  Ack!  Did a bunch of research about blockages and saw lots of fears but no actual blockages by them.  Major risk seemed to be in choking.  It has been a week or so and he's obviously fine so I guess all is well.
There are more in the package and I have been wondering if I keep giving them to him now that I know he can digest them fine or if I shouldn't.  There don't seem to be any no-risk chewing items and these seem to be on the safer side.

Thoughts?

[Ginny Nightingale]

You need to set a timer so that you check on him before it gets that small--I take it away when it is that size--I get the 12 inch ones and it usually lasts about 40 minutes, but I give it to the dog for 15 minutes at a time. My problem is that if one of my dogs has the bully stick for too long, he gets diarrhea, so I have to take it away from everyone.

[Star and Goldie]

I avoid bully sticks after a couple of DK members posted their horror stories a few months ago. That along with the same stuff that I found in my research as you did was enough for me to stay away from them. But it's a personal discussion. It doesn't mean it's the right or wrong one. Several people who have had issues had given their dogs bully sticks for years with no ill effects. It's just like everything else... it only takes one time. I said no to bully sticks but yes to antlers which have their own risks as well.

[Puppy Love]

Jackson had a brownish discharge coming from eyes. When I stopped giving him bully sticks the discharged stopped, maybe coincidence maybe not. But I wouldn't go back to bully sticks.

[Judith and Griffin]

Thanks everyone!