# confused on bully sticks.. are they really 100% digestible?



## Happyday (Jan 31, 2013)

I own a 1 yr old maltese that loves to chew on anything and everything. can't leave anything lying around the floor cos he'll chew them. lol doesn't matter what it looks like.. what it's made out of or what it tastes like. he will chew on it. lol

when he was 6 months old. i bought him some raw hinds thinking they were digestible and safe as i read the packaging and the packaging said it was safe to eat/consume. 

It wasn't till a few weeks later that i did research and was shocked about how unsafe they were. i panicked as i remember seeing my puppy tearing off small chunks.. less than 1 inch and swallowing them before i can grab these off his mouth.  as soon as he sees me coming. he swallows the small chunks he tore off.  anyway after that i was very worried and monitored his bowels, poop and his behavior and he seemed fine. no vomiting.. no diarrhea.. nothing and his eating habits were normal so i guess they passed through fine.

i never purchased rawhides again. 

I did my research on alternatives and i saw bully sticks were highly recommended by alot of people online and everyone raved on about how much safer they were and how they last longer than rawhinds. 

last week. i won a $100 gift card to petco. i bought 2x 20 packs of 12 inch bully sticks with the gift card thinking it will last me like 3-6 months and if my dog doesn't like them. i can just sell them on ebay. lol anyway they finally arrived in the mail today 

Now that they've arrived. I decided to do another quick search of this forum just to be 100% sure they were safe however in one of the topics on here.. some poster wrote they aren't fully 100% digestible because they found some bully sticks in their dogs poop. 

can anyone please let me know if that is true? has anyone seen bully sticks in their dogs poop? i have done my research before purchasing them and i thought they were digestible and safe but then in 1 topic on this forum says someone found some in it's poop.  so now i am totally confused and i am now hesitant in giving them to my dog. are they 100% digestible or not?


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## Salina (Sep 2, 2012)

Bullysticks are safe. I believe its one of the best chews. Never had an issue with them. Wouldnt be worried. Of course, with any chew, there is a risk. There is dogs choking on kibble, so nothing is 100% safe. But bullysticks are highly digestible. 100%? I dont know.


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## CptJack (Jun 3, 2012)

Sort of depends on the dog and the bullystick. They are digestable, but if your dog is gnawing off and swallowing decent sized pieces, they won't have time to digest before they pass through the digestive tract. My dogs chew fairly slowly at them rather than biting off pieces and eating and we take them away when they're small enough to be swallowed whole.


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## SydTheSpaniel (Feb 12, 2011)

Like others said, it depends on the dog. If your dog is swallowing huge pieces just as with any other type of chew, it's not good! I love bully sticks, my dog loves them but still takes her time with it! Just supervise at first to see how your dog acts with them!


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## Happyday (Jan 31, 2013)

thanks for the replies. finally gave my dog one and oh my.... he's chewing on it like he hasn't eaten for a whole week. lol iam amazed on how long lasting it's going. he's been chewing on it quite aggressively for 30 minutes and he hasn't gone past the first inch yet


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## xdunlapx (Jan 30, 2013)

I give my dog a bully stick all the time and have never seen anything odd in his poop. He isn't an aggressive chewer though, he's an 8lb yorkie. It takes him a day or two off and on to get down an inch or so.


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## trainingjunkie (Feb 10, 2010)

I have one chunk-swallower and he pukes bullystick chunks. He has no problem with rawhide. If I give him a chicken wing or a turkey neck, he pukes bones. If I give him a RMB, he pukes chunks. He's just weird. My other two do fine with everything. 

All dogs are different. I trust bullysticks despite my dog's issues. He's just strange.


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