Can my puppy have bully sticks?

[Melissa Bissell]

My puppy is 17 weeks.  Is he at an age where he can eat bully sticks?  And if not, at what age would we be able to give him one?  He is 25 pounds and growing fast, predicted to be about 45-50 pounds.  What size would you recommend 6 inch or 12 inch?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

IF he has no digestive issues, you can give him a bully stick. I would get the bigger ones and make sure it is not made in China or other parts of Asia. A distributor's address in the U.S. is not enough, you must verify the source of the product. 

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

Tara's breeder gave her a tiny bullysitck when we picked her up to come home with us-she was 8 weeks old. She weighed less than 5 pounds and just loved that stick. It lasted a LOOOOONG time due to the fact that her little teeth couldn't do much damage.  She is 20 pounds now as an adult and we give her medium sized 12 inch sticks and she does well with them. We monitor her when it starts getting small but it still takes her quite a while to finish one.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

And JD can demolish a 24 inch bully stick in about 15 minutes. Goes to show you how different these doodles can be. 

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

Tara always has several bully sticks in progress.  Currently she has 3 in the house, one outside  and one in the pickup.  It's a long story about how she ends up with so many but the point is that she just takes her time with them and eventually they are all consumed. Here she has gathered her "in house" bullies into a pile in order to chose the bully de jour.   I think the chosen one is fairly new so you can see how it looks when a 20 pound doodle chews on a 12 inch bully stick.

[Pat and Traveler]

So cute that Tara gathers her bully sticks so she can make a careful choice.  She's such a cutie!

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

T

[Gail and Bailey]

I would never give one that is smaller than 12 inches and as Ricki said, be sure to monitor him and take it away when it is small enough that he could swallow the last part whole.  Go to www.bestbullysticks.com  and be sure to order the odor free kind!!  

[Melissa Bissell]

Has anyone used the Barkworthies brand?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Barkworthies is a very good company. I've bought their elk antlers.

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

Lucy got her first bully sticks at about 10 weeks old, and she loved them. She was real particular about them, though, and would only chew on the 6" regular ones. Oscar is a total chow hound and I wouldn't  trust him with any size of bully stick  (well, maybe, if it were 18" long and 2" in diameter). I'm too afraid he'd swallow one whole. So, sadly, we no longer buy bully sticks, not even for Lucy, because there's no way to keep Oscar from them (other than crating him to keep him away, which seems rather cruel and unjust).

[Cheryl and Lucas]

Karen, what can you give Jack that will satisfy the long chew? Lucas demolishes everything in seconds, braided bully's last longest but they are so expensive! Luke is 92 lbs and can demolish most chews in seconds, it is such a waste of Money!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Antlers. They are the only thing that satisfies his urge to chew and last a long, long time.