thanks, everyone, they are now a thing of the past (they were the 3 pack ones with the blue, brown and clear just like described in an earlier post). 
 
i lost this thread, it moved a little bit after I posted, thank goodness I found the notification in my email or I wouldn't have read all of this.  do posts get sorted frequently?  i had no idea where it went.  i posted it in general discussion. 
thanks again everyone for the information, all of it, and ew I googled the bully sticks to find out what they were and I was much happier not knowing!!! 
i am so thankful everyday that I found this forum.  thank you so much for the info  
