WHAT IS A BULLY STICK? Dog chews made from baked pizzles. "Pizzle" is an old German name for a bovine male organ. Bully sticks are only one ingredient: smooth muscle tissue. They are not bones or tendons. Please consider this in your expectation of how long they should last. A "steer" is a bull that has been fixed. A "bull" is a male that is still in tact. Steer sticks are still bully sticks, but less testosterone makes them less dense. So steers typically have less moisture and can turn out crunchy if the pizzle is really thin. Sticks with less moisture are actually easier to digest. Thus steers are great for older dogs, puppies and dogs with sensitive stomachs. Bull pizzle is better for dogs that are serious chewers.
OUR ASSURANCE OF IMPERFECTION: Perfect chews are made uniform by processing with artificial colors, fillers, then punching out of machines like hot dogs. Because our bully sticks are made by Mother Nature and hand-trimmed by humans, they will never be the same. Size, aroma and color of every stick will vary, just as bulls and steers do in nature. The photo you see is a general guide. You will be disappointed if you expect our sticks to be the same every time you order. This is not a lack of quality control. It is our refusal to manipulate a product that is 100% natural. We do grade sticks into weight ranges so you do not get extreme size differences from batch to batch. Some manufacturers puff out sticks during cooking process to create the illusion of a thick stick. But if weighs like a standard, it's going to chew like a standard. Thus, we go by weight. It is a better measure of longevity than circumference.
WHY SO EXPENSIVE COMPARED TO OTHER CHEWS? Bones and tendons are plentiful on both both male and female bovines. Bully sticks, however, can only come from pizzles. Pizzles are only found on males. Dog chew manufacturers have to compete with thousands of restaurants all over the world who buy beef pizzle to put in soups. To make things more challenging, bully sticks thicker than a pencil can only come from males that are bulls. Most ranches only have one bull per herd for safety reasons. This makes true bull pizzles a very rare commodity. Once harvested, pizzles have to be baked at a very low temperature for several days, then cut into sections. Thus, your pup is getting a chew that is one of the most unique, sought after sources of protein on the market!
WHAT IS YOUR GOAL? We offer a variety of different sizes to choose from. If you are just wanting to clean your dog's teeth, 6" Standards are fine. However, if you are wanting to keep a 50 LB dog busy while you eat dinner, a 12" Thick bully would be more appropriate.