Bully sticks are known by many names, but most importantly besides their many uses, is the reason that they have become such a preferred dog treat.
They are known as pizzle sticks or bull pizzles or any number of variations on these words. The thing is that they can vary by animal type, or size of stick, but their general use is the one thing that remains the same.
Why are bully sticks used ?
Because they are an excellent option for promoting dental health and satisfying a dog’s natural instinct to chew. More on this later.
What are they made of? If it’s a beef bully stick, it’s the bull’s penis. Yes, you read that right. And in fact, the only problem with this is that some Asian countries prize this part of the bull for its alleged aphrodisiac qualities, it has massively increased human demand and the price of the dog treat variety cost. This doesn’t mean that they are not worth it:
But the fact it is still one of our best sellers, goes to show that owners often prize dog treat quality and function over raw price.
NUTRITIONAL VALUE
Beef bully sticks, or any animal bully sticks involved a process of cleaning, drying and stretching into a solid shape. But being made of 100% single ingredient meat, they have high quality protein and are low in fat. So you might wonder then, why not just go with the beef you find in commercial dog food, or dried beef jerky dog treats?
The answers have to do with quality and price, as usual. Commercial dog food, whether it be dried kibble or wet food, or even dog rolls, typically has low-cost meat added. They typically use MDM meat (mechanically deboned meat). This is the remnants of the good cuts of meat, machined off the bone. They can still have good nutritional value, but sometimes have more fat, or a little inclusion of bone. You will also know that commercial dog food is made for dogs to consume quickly, to maximise the volume eaten and the money you have to spend. They often encourage over eating and in big dogs can cause bloat that can kill them.
Dried beef jerky is often a good option for medium to smaller dogs. But again, not all is as it seems. Much of the beef jerky sold on the market is flattened bull trachea. It isn’t the fine grade of steak you might be thinking of. But due to the high demand for quality meat, even beef jerky that isn’t made from a quality cut of meat can be quite expensive. And it won’t last very long for a big chewing dog.
Hence the creation and regular use of bully sticks by owners of big chewing dogs.
While it might seem that all beef is just beef, many unscrupulous manufactures use substitute animal offal or plant matter made to look like meat and glue together a shape. They do that in supermarkets to human steak, so you can only imagine what some will do to dog treats.
When you are buying bully sticks you will see by the grain, one long stick of meat. And its quality muscle meat, not MDM. It will have the same protein profile as nutritional websites give for regular dried beef, 100% beef. In the oven drying process some of the meat will have the fat rendered off, so reducing the fat content of the stick.
But the big value for the stick is often the length of time it takes for a dog to eat it. It is known as the number one MEAT OCCUPIER treat. A safe alternative to bones, that is fully digestible. It won’t fall apart like composite meat treats, a dog will have to soften one end and gradually chew up the stick to eat it all.
Why bully sticks are great at cleaning dog teeth
Just basic physics. Some owners with big hunting dogs, that carefully chew dog treats are fine with big bones, but not every owner feels that they can trust their dogs to be left alone with such a tasty primal treat that has most of its taste enjoyment in the middle marrow section.
For a medium or big dog, an extra wide, extra-long beef bully stick is perfect for cleaning the outside (front and back) of the teeth while it is whole. And once the bully stick is wettened and begins to free the end pieces can act like natural dental floss.
Unlike compressed vegetable matter ‘dental sticks’ which are the most unnatural treat of all to give to a dog evolved from pure carnivore ancestors, beef bully sticks provide a perfect balance between animal protein nutrition and teeth cleaning functionality.
The final thing to consider is how the bully stick is such a potent primal option. Descended from the grey wolf, modern pet dogs still have many behaviours and thought patterns of its ancestors. They like to turn in circles before sitting down, howl at night to connect with other dogs, and like nothing better than eating a fresh kill with the pack.
Back in those times, their ancestors used to apportion the best parts of the animal out the most significant of the pack, and the lowliest ranking adults would get the scraps like bones. They also had to eat fast in case other wolves wanted their food, or a competitor came along.
Your dog gets the bonus of not only eating one of the prized cuts of meat, but taking their time to do so. AND with the added bonus because it typically takes so long to eat, they are preoccupied for this time rather than thinking of separation anxiety, and they are consuming a relatively low amount of calories per hour compared to having a bag of kibble in front of them.
BTW – there are also small diameter beef bully sticks available and even pork or goat bully sticks. These are more appropriate for fulfilling the same preoccupier and nutrition function as the big sticks, just more appropriate for the smaller chewing dogs out there.
Is there nothing that bully sticks can’t do? Almost seems like it.
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