Tasty Tuesday: A Pizzle, Fo’ Shizzle

I tried to stop Mama from using the word “shizzle” in this post. I *tried* to stop her from re-living the 90s and trying to recapture her lost youth here on MY blog. I tried to convince her that this was not the TIME or the PLACE to start using her wack ghetto-fabulous slang.

But she has the thumbs. So, despite my pleas to edit it out, there it is. In all it’s wannabe gangsta glory. Note to self: find a new typist. Hopefully, Mama is done embarrassing herself now. Where was I? Oh, that’s right. Pizzle sticks, or if you would rather, bully sticks. (Kinda wish I had called them bully sticks in the first place, I could have avoided this whole ridiculous fiasco.)

We mentioned a few weeks ago that we are not big fans of rawhide or pork skin chews at our house. I’ve never even had one. Mama spends a lot of energy trying find fun things for Felix and I to chew. We love a good deer antler. You know what else we love? A good bully stick.

What is a bully or pizzle stick you ask?

My advice. Accept my word that bully sticks are a meat product and go from there. Or if you are one of those people that is totally OCD and *has* to know for themselves, click here. Seriously though. I urge you not to do it. Mama wishes she hadn’t. She also wishes there was a bleach product designed to bleach your brain.

It’s OK, I’ll wait while your human finishes retching and you wipe up your puddle of drool. ♫ ♪ hums the theme song to Fear Factor. ♪ ♫

Ick-factor aside, this is a pretty fab treat. Unlike rawhide, bully sticks are believed to be fully digestible as they are made of tissue, not hide. Since they are a meat product (bleach your brain, *try* to bleach your brain) they are high in protein and taurine. They have a natural meaty smell that will drive the pups wild. The Mamas notsomuch. I would recommend *not* chewing this on Mama’s good sofa or her favourite pillow, if you would like to continue to have couch/bed privileges. Good brands should be completely chemical and preservative free and lots of companies make them right here in North America.

Typically bully sticks are either dried or smoked. I’m partial to the dried ones myself. The smoked ones have this weird colour that gets on Mama’s cream rug and she gets all Sheldon Cooper about the idea of carcinogens in the smoking process. We are also fond of the thick braided chews. They are extra big and fun to chew. Added bonus, since they are thicker than the standard chew, I have a much more difficult time biting of chunks of it. I haven’t managed it yet and I am a pretty rock-solid chewer.

Bully sticks are a great way to help satisfy your natural chewing urge (and to keep you off Mama’s Italian leather stilettos. Let me tell ya, Mama’s have absolutely no sense of humour when it comes to their shoes.) In theory, as you chew and sink your teeth into a bully stick, you scrape the edges of your teeth, knocking loose  tartar and massaging your gums. We aren’t entirely sure we buy into the whole “chew your way to cleaner teeth” theory. Any canine dentists out there who wanna chime in on this?

FULL DISCLOSURE: Like with everything under the sun, there are some things to know about bully sticks. If your dog is a super power chewer, buy only the really thick braided chews. It is too easy for your MegaMouth to bite off a chunk and it could be a choking hazard. IF a chunk is swallowed whole, it could cause a bowel obstruction. Like with all chews, we recommend supervision which you chew. We probably wouldn’t recommend these chews for a pup who is a power chewer/canine vacuum combo. You know the pup we mean – the ones with jaws of steel who will swallow anything smaller than a tennis ball whole? Our favourite braided chews are typically sold WAY bigger than Mom will let us eat in one sitting. Usually, she will let us chew about 6″ at a time, before she takes the chew away.

You should always pick up chews between chewings. We love to pick up the bullies, place them in a Ziploc and store them in the freezer between chew sessions.  Since a pizzle stick is a meat product (*mind bleach please*) there can be a salmonella risk, although in three + years, neither me or Felix has ever gotten sick. While storing them in the freezer won’t kill salmonella, it will slow the growth of any bacteria making them safer for longer. She always takes the bully away when it gets small enough to choke on.

Mmmm, all this pizzle talk makes me want one, fo’ shizzle. And hey, Word to Your Mama.