Are Bully Sticks Good For Dogs?
Ask most dog owners what their dog’s favorite chew is and “bully sticks” will likely be the answer.
Here at Redbarn, we happen to be pretty familiar with bully sticks for dogs. For more than 20 years, Redbarn has been one of the leading producers of bully sticks for the pet industry. Over the years, we have fielded many questions about bully sticks: Are bully sticks safe for dogs? Are bully sticks good for dogs' teeth? Are bully sticks digestible? The list goes on and on.
Since we have such a robust history with bully manufacturing and sales, who better to set the record straight about bully stick facts?
With many positive things to talk about, we thought we’d focus on a few of the best things about bully sticks.
What are Bully Sticks?
If you’re new to bully sticks, the first thing you might be asking is, “What are bully sticks made from?” That’s a great question! When it comes to bully sticks ingredients, you’ll be happy to know that they are a single ingredient chew (so no long and complicated ingredients panel). But if you look at a chart of cattle anatomy, you won’t see ‘bully stick’ listed on there. So what are they? The short answer is that bully sticks are beef pizzle. Pizzle is a muscle and is very similar to single-ingredient products like Beef Tendons or Beef Jerky. You may also hear them called ‘bully bones’ or ‘bully chews’ – these are just different names for bully sticks for dogs.
If you’re still asking yourself, but what is beef pizzle? That’s a great question too. You might want to sit down for this one, though. Are you ready? Beef pizzle is a bull penis. If learning that makes you want to swear off buying any more bully chews, we suggest you keep reading.
Why Pizzle?
When people find out what bully sticks are (bull penis), their reaction is often, “Ew. Why?” It might seem gross to us, but dogs love beef pizzle because of the strong flavor and taste. Dogs love organ meats, like pizzles, because they closely mimic their ancestral diet.
Beyond being a treat that your dog thinks is tasty, there are a lot of things that make bully sticks a great single-ingredient chew.
Bully Sticks are:
- Soy-free
- Grain-free
- Rawhide-free
- Wheat-Free
- 100% Beef
- High in Protein
Point being? Beef Pizzle makes a GREAT single-ingredient treat for your dog. For dogs with stomach sensitivities, allergies, or who simply love the taste of beef, you can’t beat bully sticks.
Sustainable Dog Chews
At Redbarn, our goal is to not only make products good for your pet, but also good for the planet.
Did you know cows require 28 times more land, six times more fertilizer, and 11 times more water compared to those other food sources? That adds up to about five times more greenhouse gas emissions.
At Redbarn, we work with ranchers to buy parts of the cattle that might otherwise be thrown away. To be clear, the reasons these parts would otherwise be thrown away is not because there is anything wrong with them, but because outside of the pet industry, there is little to no demand for them.
While there are some companies in the human food space that are working to use the whole animal, there are many body parts that are not considered appropriate for human consumption and/or many people aren’t interested in eating them (pizzle, anyone?).
While some people are dismissive of these byproducts, we believe that when they are high in quality and from an ethical source, many animal body parts can become great chews for your dog! This includes the beef pizzle that we use for bully sticks, along with hooves, tails, lung, and ears. We use every part of the animal, which helps farm operations become more sustainable.
The Benefits of Bully Sticks
Digestibility
Bully sticks are 100% beef muscle. They contain only one ingredient– beef pizzle. Bully sticks are a highly palatable, tough chew that most dogs find irresistible.
As with any treat, though, supervision is important. Bully Sticks are highly digestible but be sure your dog isn’t breaking off large pieces that can pose a choking hazard.
Dental Health Benefits
With all of the emerging information about how important dental health is to the overall health of dogs, pet parents face the challenge of how to keep their pup’s teeth clean.
If your dog has a buildup of plaque, the best thing you can do is to schedule a professional cleaning. Next, start a routine of wiping or brushing their teeth. You’ll also want to begin providing tough chews, like bully sticks, to help maintain your pup's pearly whites.
If you have a puppy, start brushing their teeth right away so they are comfortable with the process. Once your pup is old enough, you can provide tough chews on a regular basis to support healthy teeth and gums. Incorporating the act of chewing and gnawing on tough chews into your dog’s routine helps to maintain clean and healthy teeth and gums.
Curious about how Bully sticks help improve your dog’s teeth? At first, it might seem counter-intuitive that by eating, your dog will have cleaner teeth. The easy answer? It’s all in how your dog chews.
The mechanical action of chewing tough chews, like Bully Sticks, promotes dental health by naturally scraping teeth and gums. This “scraping” helps to remove harmful plaque and reduce buildup, keeping your dog’s teeth cleaner. This is because chewing scrapes away any buildup before it has a chance to stick onto the teeth.
High Concentration of Protein
Dogs are opportunistic carnivores. That means that they prefer and thrive on protein but will certainly eat most anything. Since we know that they are healthiest and thrive on a protein-based diet, why not give them chews that foster their best health? One great way to support your dog’s protein intake is with natural chews!
Types of Bully Sticks
We offer several different sizes of Bully Sticks for every size of dog. While straight bully chews are the most popular, Redbarn produces a variety of bully shapes so you can find the best bully stick for your dog.
If you’re already a fan of bully sticks or a natural chew expert, you might be asking yourself, “Why Should I Choose Shaped Bully Sticks?” What’s special about them?
For dogs who need something more to chew on, shaped bully sticks offer a fun challenge to keep pups happy and busy. Every dog is different, so your dog will have their own personal preference for bully stick shapes.
Here are a few of the varieties we have available:
Why Choose Redbarn Bully Sticks?
When it comes to dog treats, you have a lot of options out there! There are a few reasons that we believe we produce the best beef pizzle on the market.
High-quality products are important to us.
Good Bully Sticks start with excellent raw materials. At Redbarn, it begins with the cattle.
Redbarn Naturals Bully Sticks come from the highest quality cattle that are raised with a healthy diet, as nature intended. Our beef chews come from both Bulls and Steers. In the end, the result is a natural goodness manufactured in our own plant to strict quality control standards. The same standards we expect for our own dogs passed down to the ones you love!
Safely Sourced
Where do we get all this great beef? It’s a good question. While we actively try to source ingredients from the United States, some ingredients from abroad are higher quality than ingredients found in the United States. Many of our bully sticks are sourced and manufactured in South America at a Redbarn-owned plant that we hold to the same quality assurance standards as our Kansas-based facility.
Redbarn Pet Products believes in keeping the quality of our products, like our natural bully sticks to the highest possible standards.
Our Guarantee
Treat your pet with confidence, each and every stick! At Redbarn quality is #1. We have strict quality assurance specifications in our factories to ensure the freshest bully sticks go out our doors for your dog to enjoy. Learn more about the Redbarn Guarantee.
Your Pet’s Safety is Our Priority
Together with internal and external monitoring and auditing, we feel that we have industry-leading quality and safety protocols in place to ensure the final product you receive is of the highest quality. With this degree of quality, you can feel safe treating your dog to a Redbarn Bully Stick.
New to feeding your dog bully sticks or other natural chews? Want to talk about why bully chews are good for your dogs? Our friendly customer service team is here to answer all of your questions! Either fill out the form here or call us at 1 (800) 775-3849, Monday-Friday between 8 am and 5 pm PST.
