# Bully Stick - goes crazy?!



## nameBrandon (Nov 11, 2011)

We had given our little girl (Cavalier King Charles Spaniel puppy ~15 weeks) a small Chew n' Clean Dental Duo a couple of days ago as a chew toy, and she really liked it. She would settle down for 5-10 minutes at a time and just chew. We thought this was great! We'd been teaching her to sit, come, down, etc.. with kibble and that was going great as well.. that is, until we went to the vet! The vet gave us a bully stick for her, and when we got home we tried it out.

She went into crack-addict mode. She loved this thing so much, she completely ignored us. She wouldn't repeat her previously learned training, she wouldn't come, sit or do anything for kibble. I took the bully stick away, and she didn't like that at all.. she wouldn't touch her chew n clean toy, and for even an hour or so later, she was still hyper, sniffing around the areas that it had been in, looking for the bully stick. We gave her a frozen rag at that point, and that seemed to settle her a bit, but even now, a day later, I feel like she still hunts for that bully stick. I should mention this was after her first vet visit (since we've had her) where she got a shot, and within about 3-4 hours of bed time (I heard something about puppies and pre-bed-time craziness...)

I'm not sure what to do here.. It really scared me that she loved that thing so much she just completely ignored us. The repeated sniffing after it also confuses us, as that's normal behavior for when she needs to go outside.. 

What should we do? I was thinking we could give her the bully stick, and just leave her for an hour or two.. maybe she'll get over how new and exciting it is, and once she realizes we won't take it away, she'll calm down? Is it possible this is just something she likes too much, and we need to hold off on it until her training is more ingrained into her behavior / personality?

Thanks, as new puppy owners we're at a bit of a loss as how to proceed with the bully stick!


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## doxiemommy (Dec 18, 2009)

Our dogs act like crack addicts with their bully sticks, as well! I think the difference is, we usually give them as a special treat, and just let them curl up in their beds and veg out with their bully sticks. We don't try to do any training at that time. It's kind of like when I take a book in with my bubble bath. It's my quiet time....
That said, we don't give them often because we don't want it to lead to guarding or aggressive behavior.


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## nameBrandon (Nov 11, 2011)

doxiemommy said:


> Our dogs act like crack addicts with their bully sticks, as well! I think the difference is, we usually give them as a special treat, and just let them curl up in their beds and veg out with their bully sticks. We don't try to do any training at that time. It's kind of like when I take a book in with my bubble bath. It's my quiet time....
> That said, we don't give them often because we don't want it to lead to guarding or aggressive behavior.


Thanks! That's good to hear.. I think perhaps we just didn't know how these should be used.. I thought they would be like just another chew toy.. which is clearly not the case!


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## winniec777 (Apr 20, 2008)

I would watch for resource guarding if she's that focused on it. Our dog used to get growly if we tried to take her bully away. We just taught her that if she gave it to us, she would get it right back and/or get something even better in trade for it, like a piece of steak - has to be high value. We still play the trade-up game with her 5 years later. I never want her to growl or snap at anyone who tries to take something like that away from her. It also makes it easier to get that last chunk away before it gets swallowed whole (although we now put a vise grip on the end of bullies to prevent this).

Now is a good time to teach your pup about trading up so she doesn't start guarding it. And you can absolutely use the bully, which is a really high-value reward for her, as part of your training routine when she does something really well. I wouldn't just hand it to her without some obedience work before hand. JMO. I like to use all the tools I have to motivate my dog and bullies are a good one!


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