# Bullystick & neutering



## Kukki (May 30, 2014)

Hi, We have a 9 week old bulldog puppy. We introduced him to the bullystick yesterday. I have 3 questions, if somebody can please advice:

1. Is it too soon to be giving him a bullystick? 
2. How long can he be left chewing away on the bullystick?
3. On another note- how soon can we get him neutered? 

Thanks!


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## Ferdinand (Apr 30, 2014)

Hi Kukki -

I'm by no means an expert, but your vet can answer those questions. Ours said our puppy (a small mixed breed) was fine with a bully stick at 18 weeks, and - to be honest - we never thought to limit the amount of time he gnawed on it. He's being neutered at 30 weeks, but again, that was our vet's decision. We're obviously not going to breed him, we're not bound by any contracts, and - although I've read a lot about the pros and cons of leaving a dog intact for longer (or forever) - we trust our vet.

Now on to the important things: where can we see pictures of this puppy?!


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## doggiepop (Feb 27, 2014)

1. don't leave him unattended with the bullystick. make sure it's big enough so he can't swallow it.

2. i don't know how long a pup can have a bullystick. once my pup stop teething i was more prone
to give him hard things to chew on.

3. why do you want to neuter your dog? i've never neutered my dogs. if i were going to have my dog
neutered he would be 2 yrs old or older.



Kukki said:


> Hi, We have a 9 week old bulldog puppy. We introduced him to the bullystick yesterday. I have 3 questions, if somebody can please advice:
> 
> 1. Is it too soon to be giving him a bullystick?
> 2. How long can he be left chewing away on the bullystick?
> ...


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## Kukki (May 30, 2014)

Ferdinand said:


> Hi Kukki -
> 
> I'm by no means an expert, but your vet can answer those questions. Ours said our puppy (a small mixed breed) was fine with a bully stick at 18 weeks, and - to be honest - we never thought to limit the amount of time he gnawed on it. He's being neutered at 30 weeks, but again, that was our vet's decision. We're obviously not going to breed him, we're not bound by any contracts, and - although I've read a lot about the pros and cons of leaving a dog intact for longer (or forever) - we trust our vet.
> 
> Now on to the important things: where can we see pictures of this puppy?!


Hi Ferdinand, thanks for your response. Much appreciated! ?
Haha- pics, sure, lemme see- maybe I can attach a couple here. Your pup looks cute! Name & age? 
Cheers!

OK, added 2 pics....dunno why one is upside down, but that's Axl Rose!


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## Kukki (May 30, 2014)

doggiepop said:


> 1. don't leave him unattended with the bullystick. make sure it's big enough so he can't swallow it.
> 
> 2. i don't know how long a pup can have a bullystick. once my pup stop teething i was more prone
> to give him hard things to chew on.
> ...


Hi Doggiepop, thanks for responding. A friend told me that her dog mellowed down once he got neutered.... So we are in two minds, really. Thanks for the Bullystick tip- makes sense.


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## kcomstoc (Mar 9, 2013)

Usually the age of neutering is at least 1 year old a lot of people wait longer because there is a THEORY (not proven) that it can mess with bone development, so I would be on the safe side and wait at least a year


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## luv mi pets (Feb 5, 2012)

I would let him chew on a bully stick under supervision by you. At first I probably would not let him chew on it for very long. He might get some tummy upset from it if allowed to chew on a big one for a long time. I would just play it safe and see how he can handle small amounts at first.

Neutering- wait at least 1 year before you neuter him. right now he is too young.


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## HollowHeaven (Feb 5, 2012)

Kukki said:


> Hi Doggiepop, thanks for responding. A friend told me that her dog mellowed down once he got neutered.... So we are in two minds, really. Thanks for the Bullystick tip- makes sense.


Neutering doesn't do anything but prevent a dog from breeding.
Bad things can happen, good thing can happen, or nothing could happen at all. In my experience, I have seen nothing but negative affects but that's obviously not for all dogs.

I would wait until at least a year before neutering to give him a chance to finish growing.


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## fourdogs (Feb 3, 2014)

My first dog, a minpin, was neutered at 9 months. He never got the memo. He marked indoors, marked me, marked everything. He wore a belly band his entire life. He also bred my bitches in season when I was showing bichons. He fought with other males, especially intact males. He was a constant management issue. Neutering only made him unable to make puppies. 

I've had plenty of girls in-between my latest boy, because of the first boy's horrid behavior and having to constantly manage him scared me off boys LOL. But anyway, I now have a 15 month old poodle who is intact and I intend to leave intact. He got a bit naughty at 9 months, but tethering him to me at this time, correcting him for marking has worked wonders. he's not allowed to hump or sniff butts (intensely for too long), in short, he's quite a little gentleman. I think ALL puppies lose their brain around 9 months and don't listen, and it's normal for puppies to be "hyper" because, hey, youth! 

My suggestion is purely anecdotal, but, I'm leaving my guy intact. What you do with yours is between you and your vet.

Oh, I wanted to also add that I saw on mercola.com that Dr. Becker now advocates keeping dogs intact (responsibly!!) because of the rise in endocrine disorders she's seen in her early neuter clients.


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## ireth0 (Feb 11, 2013)

HollowHeaven said:


> Neutering doesn't do anything but prevent a dog from breeding.
> Bad things can happen, good thing can happen, or nothing could happen at all. In my experience, I have seen nothing but negative affects but that's obviously not for all dogs.
> 
> I would wait until at least a year before neutering to give him a chance to finish growing.


Agree with this.

I also much prefer the look of dogs who were only neutered once they were fully grown. They tend to be much more muscular and 'fit' looking over dogs that were neutered younger. More masculine, if that makes sense. 

I tend to find it very easy to tell the difference between the two just by looking (and I don't mean at their bits!)


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## Amaryllis (Dec 28, 2011)

Mercola.com is a complete woo site that disseminates some pretty dangerous ideas concerning human health.

Look, I've seen plenty of neutered dogs and haven't seen anything bad at all. The fact of the matter is, most people aren't prepared to deal with the sex drive of intact dogs. How often do we, on this site, see posts from people with oops litters who state they never intended to breed? What percentage of people who experience oops litters do you suppose post here? 1%? Less?

I had two neighbors with intact dogs, a male GSD and a female lab. The lab went into heat and the owner took her out into his back yard, a yard protected by a chain link fence. The GSD was a block away behind an 8' tall wooden privacy fence. He smashed his way through the fence, breaking his shoulder in the process, ran the block, hopped the chain link fence (with a broken shoulder) and mated with the lab in front of her owner. The next day, 2 dogs were in surgery, one for a neuter and shoulder repair, one for an emergency spay while in heat.


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## CptJack (Jun 3, 2012)

The thing is, at a year old a dog the size of a bulldog probably isn't going to have a sex drive. Thud is now 19 months old. *He still doesn't even lift his leg to pee*, doesn't mark, and isn't even remotely acting like an intact male. Maybe it's training? I mean, Jack and Frost don't mark, but at least they lift their legs to pee outside. And when an intact dog in the house was in heat (Bug, who wasn't spayed as claimed) Frost was being mildly sniffy about it - Thud was 6 months or so at the time, but neither he nor (very) adult Jack even looked at her twice and like I said Frost didn't do more than sniffle vaguely. I found out mostly because I noticed she was swollen. The female next door has been in tact in the last month and neither of my three behaved in a way that would indicate they were even SLIGHTLY interested when walking by.

People keep coming up with all these extreme stories, and it just bewilders me because my experience is very, very different. Intact males and bitches in heat are in CONFORMATION RINGS TOGETHER, or acting like there's some big deal to keeping na intact dog and it's *not that hard*. Supervise your dog, keep it on a leash, and you are DONE. If your dog can get away from you for a bitch in heat, your bigger risk is it getting run over. Oops litters? Two intact dogs in a household where they are allowed loose together when no one is home, or a dog who is left loose to roam, chained, or otherwise outside (yeah, even in a fence) without no supervision at all and given adequate time to dig/climb/get out or another dog who happens to be around to get in. It's not going to happen on a potty trip.

It ain't that hard. It ESPECIALLY ain't that hard when you're dealing with an older puppy. It's not going to turn into a hormonal fuel uncontrollable rage machine EVER, but a large dog certainly isn't going to do it at a year old. A dog that age and that size probably is still going to be 98% puppy. Fertile, yes, but not even close to mature enough to be serious about it.


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## Kyllobernese (Feb 5, 2008)

I agree with Cptjack that intact males are not that difficult. Maybe there are some that are "sex maniacs" but in my over fifty years of owning dogs, I have never come across any and I have never owned a neutered male and have owned all sorts of breeds. I have never had a male that went to extremes to get to a female, like leaping fences or chewing holes in the doors, and I have had lots of intact females along with intact males.


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## Pittsburgh Duke (Apr 5, 2014)

I am by no means an expert, either, but my vet said bully sticks were fine, and that was when he was 16 weeks. She said he could consume them and that was fine--she did not want him eating rawhide. I've found them to be really expensive unless I buy crap from China or shop around. Prices from the same company, but at different reputable stores locally, varied greatly. 

I can't say much on neutering. I think about 20 weeks or so is when my friends had their dogs done and when my vet said I could, but I want to hold off awhile. 

I second Ferdinand--I love pup pictures!!!! =) 

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## Remaru (Mar 16, 2014)

Remus is very intense. He does not mark in the house but he will around the yard. I finally have him mostly broken of the habit but if he thinks I'm not looking or if he smells where another dog has gone (Blue will pee around the yard if she smells where Remus peed, it is a vicious cycle now and Dove is still learning where she is supposed to go) he will have to pee over it. He licks other dogs pee as well. He also poops to mark, right at the fence line we share with neighbors who have dogs. He knows he shouldn't but he will if he thinks no one is watching. It is getting worse since spring hit. He follows all of the girls around whining and sniffing, he will lick them if they let him (and if I don't stop him). Blue has bitten him countless times. Oddly he is not interested in Freyja, the only female in the house who isn't spayed. She is only 5months though. He will also lick the floor wherever one of them sat and whine, and run a circuit of our yard like he is patrolling. When out on walks he will pee on anything tall enough to lift his leg too unless I can keep him focused and away. He is 18months but he is a primitive/feral breed so it may be a hormonal and seasonal thing. Duke is neutered (he came to us untrained and unsocialized with so many bad habits that is just seemed better at the time) but I had a dog in the past, Mali who was intact who did not behave like this. I cannot picture Remus running, he has the best recall of any of the dogs with the exception of Duke but I don't let him out in the yard alone anyway (because he marks and I'm working on training him not to). I don't look forward to Freyja going into her first heat just because I don't look forward to the crating and rotating.

ETA: I would go slow on Bully sticks let him chew them monitored for short periods for a while until you know how he handles them simply because some bullies have food allergies. Duke is allergic to bully sticks and can't have them.


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## Kukki (May 30, 2014)

Soooo much discussion! Love it! Thanks everybody, we are learning a lot from all of you seasoned dog owners! &#55357;&#56911;


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## Ferdinand (Apr 30, 2014)

Kukki said:


> Hi Ferdinand, thanks for your response. Much appreciated! ?
> Haha- pics, sure, lemme see- maybe I can attach a couple here. Your pup looks cute! Name & age?
> Cheers!
> 
> OK, added 2 pics....dunno why one is upside down, but that's Axl Rose!


Oh my goodness, baby bulldog bellies! He's really adorable (even upside down). Ferdinand (the pup) will turn 6 months old this week. He's had a couple of very terrier days lately, but otherwise, he's a total gem. He doesn't chew things he shouldn't (unless you count the cat toys he's claimed as his own), and has been really good about learning basic manners and obedience cues.

-Kat


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## Kukki (May 30, 2014)

Ferdinand said:


> Oh my goodness, baby bulldog bellies! He's really adorable (even upside down). Ferdinand (the pup) will turn 6 months old this week. He's had a couple of very terrier days lately, but otherwise, he's a total gem. He doesn't chew things he shouldn't (unless you count the cat toys he's claimed as his own), and has been really good about learning basic manners and obedience cues.
> 
> -Kat


Oops, sorry about the name mix-up! Hi Kat, Thanks! Axl just slept- gosh, it is hard taking care of a puppy!! Whew! Ferdinand gives me hope! &#55357;&#56842; Sent you a friend request. Hope that's OK! Take care.....
-Aparna (Kukki is my nickname)


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## hanksimon (Mar 18, 2009)

A bullystick is just 'meat'. As others have said, you want to watch so that he doesn't choke on a large piece, and you probably wan't to limit chewing to 30 min. or less, to avoid an upset stomach and diarrhea. 

Also, as you can read, neutering is a matter of choice and opinion. It's best to go with the opinion of a local Vet that you can trust. I neutered my dog at 6 mos with no issues or change in behavior, including no decrease in humping or marking. Some studies suggest waiting until the male is 1 or 2 years old, and fully grown.


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## Hambonez (Mar 17, 2012)

CptJack said:


> Thud is now 19 months old. *He still doesn't even lift his leg to pee*, doesn't mark, and isn't even remotely acting like an intact male.


Hamilton started lifting his leg to mark when he was around Thud's age. He was neutered around 7 weeks old. He still squats to pee, but lifts to mark (outdoors only, thank God!). There must be some other factor at play than age/sexual maturity/propensity to tag everything in the neighborhood.


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## CptJack (Jun 3, 2012)

Hambonez said:


> Hamilton started lifting his leg to mark when he was around Thud's age. He was neutered around 7 weeks old. He still squats to pee, but lifts to mark (outdoors only, thank God!). There must be some other factor at play than age/sexual maturity/propensity to tag everything in the neighborhood.


In fairness to Thud, he doesn't remotely act like anything but a puppy, either. Not even teenager in a lot of ways: he acts like a PUPPY 95% of the time, so mature behaviors from him at all are kind of... nonexistent.


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## lisahi (Jun 19, 2011)

hanksimon said:


> A bullystick is just 'meat'. As others have said, you want to watch so that he doesn't choke on a large piece, and you probably wan't to limit chewing to 30 min. or less, to avoid an upset stomach and diarrhea.
> 
> Also, as you can read, neutering is a matter of choice and opinion. It's best to go with the opinion of a local Vet that you can trust. I neutered my dog at 6 mos with no issues or change in behavior, including no decrease in humping or marking. Some studies suggest waiting until the male is 1 or 2 years old, and fully grown.


I, too, neutered my dog when he was 6 months (actually, he was likely 7 months because I had to wait for him to get well since we rescued him off the street at 5 months). He marks outside on walks, but not in my back yard. He started lifting his leg a year after he was neutered. Doesn't mark inside. Doesn't hump (never humped; my female dog actually humped far more as a puppy). No adverse health effects.

My vet won't spay/neuter under 6 months old. But older than a year old and she'll scold you for not spaying/neutering (if you're not responsibly breeding, that is). I live in a city with a huge stray dog problem and a lot of very irresponsible dog owners. She sees this everyday, so I can understand where she's coming from. Most people aren't as vigilant as those who post in this forum.


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## Kukki (May 30, 2014)

hanksimon said:


> A bullystick is just 'meat'. As others have said, you want to watch so that he doesn't choke on a large piece, and you probably wan't to limit chewing to 30 min. or less, to avoid an upset stomach and diarrhea.
> 
> Also, as you can read, neutering is a matter of choice and opinion. It's best to go with the opinion of a local Vet that you can trust. I neutered my dog at 6 mos with no issues or change in behavior, including no decrease in humping or marking. Some studies suggest waiting until the male is 1 or 2 years old, and fully grown.


Thanks! Gave it to him yesterday- and he was busy for 30 whole minutes in his crate, without caring about anything else!  About the neutering, guess we'll consult the vet....


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