Bringing a new canine into the family is an endearing life experience. Dogs come in all shapes and sizes—from the small Yorkies with big hearts to family-friendly Golden Retrievers, each one is special. As a pet owner, it’s important to treat your furry companions like your children and love them as much as you can.
An important aspect of pet ownership is ensuring your pet’s food and nutrition. Pet owners should note that it’s crucial for canines to have a nutritious and balanced diet, just like humans. Their food should provide for hydration, proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, and minerals. Yet not only should their food be nutritious, their snacks should be as well. While dogs anticipate and get excited for their meal times, they would also love to have some small treats during the day. Why not make them beneficial for your canine, too?
Dog Treats, Nutrition, And Everything In Between
Canine breeds have different personalities and behaviors, but they all have something in common: their fondness for treats and chews, especially when earning them as a reward. Since your furry companions can’t control their snack intake throughout the day, you must be the one responsible.
Think of it this way: eating snacks during the day can potentially throw off your balanced diet, and it works the same on dogs. Snacks and treats can add too many calories to their diet. As a rule of thumb, their snacks should make up only 10% of their daily calorie intake.
Also, the choice of treats and snacks is as important. The right dog treats should be especially formulated and appealing for the palate of dogs. Treats and chews with added nutritional and dental benefits are a plus. If you want to give your canine a unique, fun, but still healthy treat during playtime, then bully sticks are worth giving a try.
Bully Sticks? What Are They?
Without any further ado, bully sticks are natural, healthy dog treats made from dried bull penises, thus named bully sticks. However, don’t be too discouraged of bully sticks as they’re 100% derived naturally from a single ingredient.
Bully sticks, or pizzle sticks, are common in many pet stores, but you might not be aware of what it’s called. To clear any misconceptions, bully sticks aren’t derived from muscle cut off from the animal. The steer or bull penis is only the animal’s by-product.
Bully sticks exist in raw, dried, or cooked form. All bully sticks have a tough consistency, which is perfect for a long-lasting chew.
However, bully sticks can stink if they’re not prepared correctly. The unpleasant odor comes from the moisture. Therefore, drying, baking, and cooking them properly will help remove the odor. There can also be a risk of bacterial contamination sans correct preparation.
Should I Consider Giving Bully Sticks To My Dog?
If you’re still hesitant to get bully sticks for your canine, check out these five reasons why you should give bully sticks as a regular treat to your dog:
1. Dog-Friendly And Healthy Option
Dogs of any age and size will appreciate an excellent snack that they can also play with. One of the biggest advantages of bully sticks against other types of snacks and treats in the market is the fact that it’s naturally derived from an animal by-product and free from harmful chemicals, such as preservatives and dyes.
Moreover, bully sticks are stomach-friendly and will less likely cause an upset stomach, compared to rawhide, pig ears, and other natural and commercial treats. Bully sticks are also high in protein and taurine, an amino acid that’s good for your canine’s eyesight and heart muscles.
Because of the low fat combined with the high protein content of bully sticks, they’re useful in managing obesity in dogs. Being one of the safest chews on the market, even young puppies can enjoy bully sticks.
2. Great For Your Canine’s Dental Health And Stomach
Despite the hardness of bully sticks, they’re actually excellent for canine dental and oral health. When chewed, pizzle sticks cause abrasions on canine teeth, promoting the removal of plaque and tartar without scraping the gums.
As mentioned earlier, bully sticks don’t cause stomachaches because they’re easily digestible. Many pet owners are generally aware of rawhide treats, as they’re popular in the market. However, some rawhide chews contain unnecessary additives that can contribute to difficult digestion.
3. Long-Lasting And Long Shelf Life
One piece of bully stick is incredibly long-lasting to chew because of its tough nature. Compared to other treats, that easily get chewed off, bully sticks can last for several hours to days. But it still depends on how long your dog chews it daily and their level of aggression while chewing.
Since they can last for a few days, you can guarantee your dog won’t finish a pack of bully sticks easily. Although some bully stick brands are quite expensive, you can ensure top-notch quality and long-lasting use. If your canine didn’t finish a stick in one sitting, you can simply put them in the freezer until next use.
Unchewed or uneaten bully sticks have an excellent shelf life of two to three years. Storing them in a freezer can further increase the hardness and longevity of the product. When choosing bully stick products, those with resealable packaging are more convenient and advantageous to use.
4. There’s One For Every Dog
Undoubtedly, canines become picky eaters, too. Whether your dog’s breed is a picky eater, such as a Dachshund, Maltese, or Pug, or your dog is just plain finicky, bully sticks can fit their taste and preference. Thanks to countless varieties of bully sticks, there’s sure to be one type of bully stick that your dog would love.
Bully sticks have a variety of sizes starting from six inches, ideal for smaller dogs, or if you just want to manage their consumption. Also, there are different shapes and patterns, which are straight, curled, and braided bully sticks, and there are also curled bully rings.
If your dog finds the odor unpleasant and uninviting, you can also opt for odor-free bully sticks. These variants, however, are more expensive as they’re dried and treated longer.
5. Saves Your Things From Getting Chewed
Lastly, bully sticks are a great option to shift your pet’s attention from chewing your household items. Some canines, especially at their puppy stage, tend to chew on everything. By giving your dog something particular to chew and play with, they can enjoy this healthy treat instead of destroying your favorite items.
Final Thoughts
Treats and chews spice up your canine’s daily life, encouraging them to become a more playful, loyal, and rewarding companion. As your dog can give you innumerable reasons to smile, they deserve to receive the same. It’s obvious, through reading this article, that bully sticks can be a great and beneficial treat to offer them.
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