Guest blog by Frank Ventura of Green Lawn Landscaping
If you’ve ever owned a dog, you know how much of a mess it could make, especially on your lawn. However, as a pet owner, you should allow your dog to roam freely and not keep it inside to prevent it from spoiling your grass.
There are ways in which you can keep your lawn looking nice, even with a dog.
Does dog pee kill grass? How do you stop dog pee from killing your grass? Read below to find out the answers to these questions and tips for saving your lawn.
Photo by Ayla Verschueren on Unsplash
Does Dog Pee Kill Grass?
Seeing your grass all brown and spoilt could be very annoying and frustrating when you try so hard to maintain it. However, when you have a dog around, you must be prepared for this occurrence.
Dog pee kills grass, but there are ways in which you can control it. One thing is that you can train your dog to see in particular areas. The other one is that once the damage is done, you can work towards reducing the impact it has on your lawn.
Why Does Dog Pee Kill Grass?
Urea, in your dog’s urine, is the main reason that causes brown spots in your lawn. Urea is a type of nitrogen that results from proteins. Dogs eat high-protein diets, which is why there is a lot of nitrogen in their urine.
Although a little bit of nitrogen acts as fertilizer for your lawn, a large amount together in a small area could burn the grass and kill it.
It is precisely what happens when your dog pees in the grass. The nitrogen in the form of urea in your dog’s urine burns and kills the grass in your lawn.
Do Some Dogs Cause More Damage?
Any dog can cause damage to grass by peeing on it. However, some dogs do cause more damage than others.
Female dogs do more damage than their male counterparts. It is because they squat in one place while male dogs go to different places to pee simultaneously.
The amount of water your dog drinks also impacts the damage it causes by peeing on your lawn. The more water it drinks, the more diluted the nitrogen will be when it pees, causing less damage.
Therefore, encourage your dog to drink more water to help keep your lawn in a much better state. The plus point is that water keeps your dog hydrated and is suitable for its health.
Diet And Dog Urine Damage
Diet does impact the damage your dog causes by peeing on your lawn. Processed proteins create more urea with higher nitrogen content, damaging your lawn.
On the other hand, fresh proteins create less urea than processed proteins. Ensure your dog’s diet contains more fresh proteins and less processed proteins.
Store-bought dry and wet dog food mainly contains processed proteins. Try making dog food at home or choose alternative ‘fresh’ food brands like Nom Nom, The Farmer’s Dog, Ollie, and Spot & Tango.
Gender And Dog Urine Damage
Gender does impact the damage caused to your lawn. However, it isn’t linked to urine composition but rather the fact that female dogs tend to squat in a single place.
It means that the urine gets concentrated in a single place, causing more damage in that spot. Male dogs squat in many areas. Therefore urine doesn’t get concentrated in a single location, so the grass is not impacted as much.
Apart from female dogs, puppies and seniors could cause more damage because they pee more frequently than healthy adult dogs.
How To Identify Damaged Spots In Grass
Two types of damage could occur in the grass.
• Brown spots occur when your lawn is getting too much nitrogen. It could mean that your dog pees on it more frequently.
• Dark green spots occur when your lawn isn’t getting enough nitrogen. A small amount of nitrogen acts as a fertilizer, so the grass in your lawn shouldn’t be deprived of it.
How Do You Fix Dog Urine Spots?
Lawn damage is not irreversible. So don’t get all worked up thinking you’ll never get your beautiful lawn back to its original state.
Here are the steps to take to make your lawn look good after dog urine damage:
• Deeply water the lawn.
• Reseed the patches of dead grass. You can use more urine-resistant types of grass seed, such as fescue.
• Apply various lawn treatments to clean the soil containing nitrogen, salt, and substances from dog urine.
For the best results, please contact a lawn-care professional to either guide you through the process or do the repairs themselves.
Can You Prevent Dog Urine From Turning The Grass Brown?
Once you’ve brought your lawn back to its beautiful steps, you need to maintain it that way. Here are the steps you need to take to reduce lawn damage and prevent your grass from turning brown again:
• Wash the spot where your dog pees after it has left.
• Train your dog to pee in a designated area, preferably where there is mulch or gravel instead of grass.
• With the guidance of a vet, amend your dog’s diet to include more fresh and less processed proteins.
• Raise your mowing height, which makes your grass less sensitive.
• Use Dog Rocks, a product that helps reduce nitrates in your dog’s water.
• Reseed your lawn with more urine-resistant types of grass seed, such as fescue.
Photo by lucas Favre on Unsplash
Train Your Dog Not To Pee On Your Lawn
The best way to prevent brown spots in your grass is to train your dog not to pee on your lawn. You need to train it to pee in a designated area.
Another option is to find a less visible spot on your lawn and train your dog to pee there. That way, even if there are brown spots, you wouldn’t mind because no one can see them.
Training your dog to pee in a particular spot is challenging. It requires a lot of time and patience and could be a long and tiresome process.
You must train your dog not to pee on the grass step by step. For more information, check available online training courses to help you achieve your training goals faster.
Conclusion
It is possible to stop your dog from killing grass by following adequate procedures. One way is to train your dog to pee in a particular area on your lawn. It should be an area with mulch or gravel.
If your dog pees in your grass, wash it as soon as possible. Also, try to seed urine-resistant grass to minimize the impact.
These procedures will ensure you maintain a beautiful lawn, even with a dog.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Grass Grow Back After Dog Urine Damage?
Grass grows back even after dog urine damage by reseeding the brown grass, which is dead grass.
What Is The Best Grass For Dog Urine?
Ryegrass and fescue are two types of grass that are most urine-resistant.