Can my shih tzu eat bully sticks?

Yes, she can eat them. They are highly digestible and pose no danger to her. That's why they are recommended over rawhides (which can cause digestive blockages because they aren't very digestible and can be torn into pieces). I take them away from one of my dogs and give them to my other dog when they get under a couple inches as one dog tries to swallow them whole and gags, but the other chews it down to a nub and swallows the end safely.

I have two rottweilers who can tear up 12" inch braided bully sticks in less than 10 minutes. They are perfectly safe and definitely recommended over rawhide. They even promote healthy teeth and gums because of all the chewing they require. I would suggest just making sure you know exactly where your bully sticks are coming from. Because of cooking and health standard, the US and South America are superior to India or China. Inferior bully sticks can have harmful additives and ultimately, less flavor too.

And as far as allowing your dog to consume or swallow the end of a bully stick, well bully sticks have one ingredient, and that's the bull pizzle. So, it's perfectly safe to swallow but you dogs are different and eat different, and you want to make sure that they have it thoroughly chewed before they swallow.

It's also recommended you only give your dog bully sticks once a day. They are high in protein and it's not very good to overfeed with protein heavy foods.

Hope that helps. My dogs LOVE bully sticks. They are pretty cheap and last a good amount of time when buying in bulk. I've looked at a couple of places for bulk prices on bully sticks. Check my sources for those sites, if you're interested.

Visit the link below and pretty much and question you have on bully sticks, where they come from, their effects, etc. can be answered. I've been buying from Best Bully Sticks for a while and I think they recently put this FAQ up about bully sticks and glad to see that they did. It helps a lot, as a lot of people are unfamiliar with bully sticks.

http://www.bestbullysticks.com/home/bbs/smartlist_...

Ahhhh, dont worry friend, small dogs are feisty... trust me 0.0,, i had a chihuahua and by that age she would bite me so hard i would bleed,,,, a lot. Her milk teecht are coming out and itching. when she growls say firmly NO and shell get the message if not repeat, when she approaches you to bite, you gently grab her snout, dont worry it does not hurt them, and pat it and say NO. dont let her or shell grow up biting everyone thinking its okay.dont play rough, no wrestling, no pushing , that teaches the dog to br rough and violent, its like training a baby to say bad words it becomes a habit. it could be that your cousins were playing rough, next time they ccome clearly stae the dog is not a wrestling toy!! play fetch or teach her obedience, itll come in handy when hes older best of luck!!! ohh and give her toys, not stuffed but soft enough , kind of squishy and rubberry for her teething and itching