Chew Sticks

[DianneGajewski]

My 8 pound yorkie loves bully sticks...but has GI system issues and needs to be on a chicken diet.  Does anyone know if there is anything similar to bully sticks made fro chicken?  I have tried many different sticks from chewy but they are all too soft and she devours them.  Thanks for any suggestions!

[JMFS]

Have you tried the Busy Bone? https://www.chewy.com/busy-bone-real-meat-smallmedium-dog/dp/204507

Will she work on antlers?  I steer away from them myself because I have a power chewer and my last power chewer cracked his tooth.  I know Yorkies are notorious for having bad teeth so I'm not sure if this is a good item or not.

https://www.chewy.com/lucky-premium-treats-chicken-jerky/dp/177415

Those above are 100% chicken but I cannot speak to how long they will last.

https://www.chewy.com/waggin-train-chicken-jerky-tenders/dp/130378

Those are what I get.  They're out of stock now.  Chicken and vegetable glycerin are the only ingredients.  No funky smells and the girls go wild for them. The only bummer is when we get to the bottom of the bag there are small bits.  The majority of the bag, though, is about 6 - 8" strips.  They're not going to last super long, but maybe long enough for you to get the dishwasher emptied, for example.

Your best bet is probably going to be a long lasting toy like a Kong or other puzzle toy and then stuff that with treats.  Here are a couple we like and they're tried and true:

https://www.chewy.com/planet-dog-orbee-tuff-lil-snoop-treat/dp/196419

https://www.chewy.com/petstages-orka-tire-tough-dog-chew/dp/217421

They just came out with that green version for smaller dogs.  This is one of three toys Esther has not managed to puncture, yet.  She chewed through an XL black Kong, for point of reference.  The opening is pretty small so she'll have to work for it.

https://www.chewy.com/jolly-pets-monster-ball-dog-toy/dp/38809

The opening to that is fairly big, but larger treats, or even long soft treats rolled up, make it more challenging.  And she has to chase it on the floor.

https://www.chewy.com/ethical-pet-dura-brite-treat/dp/180974

Out of stock, but putting it here for future use.

https://www.chewy.com/starmark-treat-dispensing-pickle/dp/50538

I put kibble in this one, but any treat that size will work.  You could even put wet food in it and freeze it or break up larger treats so they fit.

https://www.chewy.com/kong-goodie-ribbon-dog-toy/dp/188578

There's a bone version of that with two ends and a long middle instead.

We have a 10-lb Dachshund so I know how challenging it can be to find things for the little guys!  Compound that with the GI issue and I imagine you have a dickens of a time.  Is there anything else she tolerates?  Like sweet potato, turkey, lamb, duck, or pumpkin?  That would open up options.  Abbi has sweet potato chews that last her about 5 minutes, 10 if she's not that hungry.

All our dogs go through chews really fast.  They're built to rip apart prey after all and the treats we humans come up with don't hold a candle to the difficulty of navigating a carcass.  The only way to slow ours down is treat toys.

I hope something in this post is useful!

[JMFS]

Found these as well: https://www.chewy.com/brands/shop-by-dog-11279

They have a bully stick but it's made of beef so I limited the protein to chicken only for this search.  While it doesn't help with the bully stick question, it does give chicken treat options (just use the freeze dried kibble as treats).  Thought I'd post it just in case you have trouble finding treats for her.