Dogs love bully sticks, and the weird world of dried bull penises (which is what they're made of) has become a bit of an obsession of Annie's. In this episode, she interviews someone else who is obsessed with them: Vaso Karras, the inventor of the Bully Grip. When dogs swallow small pieces of bully sticks, they can cause potentially-fatal intestinal blockages. Karras' puck-like rubber device is designed to slide over a bully stick and lock onto it, making it nearly impossible for a dog to swallow its nub. Annie interviews her about how she dropped everything in order to devote her life to figuring out how to help dogs chewing bully sticks safely. 

Notes:

You can purchase all three sizes of the Bully Grip at StoreForTheDogs.com. 

https://storeforthedogs.com/products/bully-grip-stick-holder?variant=37868029968580

You can purchase bully sticks there, too: https://storeforthedogs.com/products/bully-sticks

And the Qwizl, which is also mentioned in this episode: https://storeforthedogs.com/products/qwizl-bully-stick-holder

Inserting a bully stick into the Bully Grip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FN2-0bmITnM

Visit School For The Dogs Community App to see a video on removing the bully stick from the holder. http://schoolforthedogs.com/community

More on bully sticks: 

What is a bully stick? A very detailed answer to an awkward question: https://anchor.fm/dogs/episodes/What-is-a-bully-stick--A-very-detailed-answer-to-an-awkward-question-ekd2ph

Dogs love bull penises, and you will too: https://anniegrossman.com/2012/12/funnies/dogs-love-bull-penises-and-you-will-too-73608/7517/

Bully stick holders your dog needs to try: https://storeforthedogs.com/blogs/news/5-bully-stick-holders-your-dog-wants-to-try

A better mousetrap: Building the perfect bully stick holder: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-better-mousetrap-building-the-perfect-bully-stick-holder/id1355439730?i=1000419925025

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Partial Transcript:

Annie:

Hello, Vaso! I’m here with Vaso Karras, the creator of the bully grip. Thank you so much for taking the time to talk.

Vaso Karras:

Thanks for having me. I'm really excited to be here.

Annie:

So the Bully Grip -- well, maybe you can explain exactly what it is, but I can tell you that I heard about it through a client some years ago. We've been carrying it in the shop now, oh, I guess for about a year.  It is a bully stick holder, and you're actually the second bully stick holder inventor I've had on this podcast. So I guess you could say it's a sub interest of mine. But why don't you describe exactly what the product is and then maybe you can talk about how you came up with this product to begin with.

Full Transcript available at SchoolfortheDogs.com/Podcast

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