Though you might know that puppies can have bully sticks as their chew treat of choice, there might be other questions that linger regarding the portion of bully sticks per day. More often than not, many dog owners are worried about overfeeding their companion: so, how often to give puppy bully sticks?
Here’s how often to give puppy bully sticks: Dogs should eat no more than one bully stick per day. Bully sticks are high in protein, but they also have other additives that are not good to consume in large amounts.
The general consensus among experienced dog owners and veterinarians seems to be 1 bully stick per day at the maximum. And how many bully sticks per week? It is safe to feed your dog 6 bully sticks per week. Why 6 and not 7? After all, 7 bully sticks a week would be one per day! We recommend taking one day off a week to give your dog’s gums, teeth, and digestive system a day of rest.
But what are the potential consequences of having too much bully sticks in a day? Are they really that bad? What are some positive effects of bully sticks and are they worth the risk that you have to take?
3 Consequences of Eating Too Many Bully Sticks
The bully stick is a very safe chew treat for your puppy: not only is it nutritious, it also has a very low risk of causing indigestion.
At the same time, an excess of such treats may lead to other negative consequences that would not necessarily harm your dog had it not been for over-eating.
1. Weight Gain
The first consequence of eating too many bully sticks is weight gain. Now, this might seem obviously, but your dog or puppy will start to gain fat at an unprecedented rate because excess protein is usually converted to fat.
Due to how high in protein bully sticks are, dogs tend to benefit from them in terms of physical development and any tissue repairs that are necessary. However, consuming too much of such protein-rich treats can easily lead to weight gain. As much as weight gains are terrible for humans, obesity for dogs can be fatal.
Gaining too much weight can lead to lack of energy which then naturally leads to lethargy.
Already, your puppy will start to fall into a vicious cycle of eating, sleeping, and remaining unwilling to exercise. Lethargy then leads to a lack of activity, which means your dog will never get the chance to burn the fat and work its muscles.
All of this adds up to weakening your puppy’s immune system, which makes it more susceptible to contracting illnesses.
As such, excessive weight gain can truly be detrimental to your dog’s health.
It is important that you understand how much your dog should be eating as your companion needs to develop a healthy eating habit, especially if it is a puppy.
As helpful as bully sticks can be, in excess amounts, it can be very toxic that can bring circumstances that can also turn fatal in some unlucky scenarios.
2. Agitation Around The Gum Line
The second reason as to why chewing on the famous bully sticks for too long is bad for your puppy is the agitation around the gum line that inevitably occurs after hours and hours of chewing on something that is as hard and as brittle as bully sticks.
Though mild irritations are fine, constantly pressuring and scratching against the gum is never good for your dog. Here are 2 things to watch out for:
- Such experiences are very painful. Your dog might love the flavor of bully sticks, but the act of chewing might become unpleasant to them due to all of the pain it has to go through. This, then, eliminates one of the major ways through which your puppy relieves anxiety. In very unlucky situations, not being able to relieve stress can lead to serious mental health deficiencies.
- A more physical concern becomes prevalent when there are scratches and cuts in your puppy’s gums as a result of chewing on bully sticks too frequently.This is especially true for puppies, as they tend to have softer gums that are meant to harden over time. These cuts in the gum lines can easily lead to infections that can prevent your dog from eating and therefore discourage it from being active due to the lack of energy it would have.
Clearly, agitation around the gum line has terrible consequences that you as a dog owner would certainly want to avoid: cuts and bacterial infections, and, in extreme cases, deteriorating mental health.
3. Digestive Issues
The final major reason as to why you should not be providing your puppy too many bully sticks per day is a digestive reason.
Your puppy might end up having significant digestive issues, especially because its digestive system is still developing. Moreover, bully sticks are very, very high in protein levels, which means if your dog is not used to digesting that much protein, it can suffer from vomiting or stomach aches.
If this happens, we strongly recommend that you pay a visit to the veterinarian to first get diagnosed as to why your dog is suffering from such stomach issues. If it turns out that there is a nutritional imbalance that is ruining your dog’s health, here is what you should do:
- Make sure that your dog is not eating anything that is difficult to digest. This includes treats that your dog might love or, in worse cases, dog kebbles. Due to how high in dry carbohydrate dog kebbles are, they tend to not be the best source of food for sick dogs. Instead, look for boiled carrots and other variations of soft food that can help your dog maintain its nutritional levels all the while keeping them digestible.
- Slowly ease him into exercising. Nothing too intense, perhaps a few minute walk around the block. Whenever your dog is sick from indigestion, walking always helps. It speeds up your dog’s metabolism, which means the puppy can finally digest all of the food as quickly as possible to recover quickly.
Taking the necessary steps when your puppy ate too many bully sticks is important; make sure you know what to do in such situations!
Do These Consequences Go Away When Puppies Become Adults?
Not at all. It would only be a matter of how sick your dog gets or how many bully sticks your dog consumed.
Though your dog might not be suffering from digestive, dental, or obesity issues after eating two bully sticks, if it consumes three or more, it can start having symptoms that would be as bad as those of a sick puppy.
As such, keep bully stick consumption at a minimum per day.
We understand how difficult it is to go against your dog’s wishes 🎈🐶, but it is necessary in this case to preserve his health.
2 Benefits of Bully Sticks for Dogs
To be frank, however, simply listing the negative consequences of excessive consumption of bully sticks puts the product under an unfairly negative light.
If they are consumed in proper amounts, they can have a lot of positive effects!
1. Biological Reconstruction
First, any type of food that is high in protein can really help your puppy’s development.
For example, protein is used in muscle building, which means you can start growing your puppy so that it becomes more muscular and fit once it grows older.
For this reason, bully sticks, if they are consumed once a day or every two days, can really help your puppy develop biologically.
Not only do these treats taste good, they have a lot of nutritional value that contribute to helping your puppy grow into a healthy adult dog!
2. Dental Care
Though not healthy in excess amounts, bully sticks can help scrape off some of the plaque and other residues stuck in your puppy’s teeth, thereby helping it avoid cavities and other dental problems that may arise.
We understand how difficult it can be to clean out your dog’s teeth with a toothbrush. Bully sticks are a great alternative!
Through the dental care provided by bully sticks, many puppies will be safe from having to undergo treatment due to poor teeth health.
This is especially important for dogs that have to chew before they swallow because otherwise, they won’t be very active when it eats, leading to a lack of energy that deteriorates your dog’s physical and mental health.
Related Questions
We recommend that your puppy chews on a bully stick for five to ten minutes. A part of the reason as to why your dog shouldn’t consume more than one bully stick is to prevent its teeth and gums from getting bad. Chewing on it for too long would have the same effect.
Yes, bully sticks are ok for puppies. In fact, they’re great as long as they are consumed in the right amounts! They can absorb a lot of protein through this snack, which then helps them grow into sturdier adults.
Bully sticks are made from bull pizzles (penis), which are in limited supply. So bully sticks are expensive because of supply and demand.
Yes, but it’s not very common. As long as your dog doesn’t eat too much of the bully sticks, your dog should be completely fine.
