“I have a lovely lawn, but its greenery is vulnerable to my equally (or perhaps more!) lovely dog. He just sprays his pee-shots over the grass, and its color fades. I love my dog! And I surely do not want to be loud against him, but I want my lawn to be okay too! How to stop dog urine from killing grass naturally? How to fix my lost grass? Help! What can I do?”
If that is you asking, you are at the right place. We will answer your questions here. But first, let us understand what really makes the dog pee so damaging to the grass.
Why is Dog Pee Killing Grass?
The grass is burnt or faded (turned yellowish) due to a high concentration of nitrogen in a dog’s urine. Undoubtedly, some amount of nitrogen would be healthy for your grass, as many of the fertilizers also contain nitrogen, but too much of it wreaks havoc on greenery.
Having understood, we are good to proceed further.
How to Stop Dog Urine From Killing Grass Naturally?
Now that we have understood why dog pee is killing the grass and know that we cannot do much except for managing this particular element in your Fido’s pee—reduce nitrogen in dog urine.
Here are the eight ways you can prevent your dog’s urine from killing grass naturally:
1. Balanced Diet
Protein is generally kept high in dogs’ diets due to their health requirements. However, as a consequence, it increases the chances of grass burn because it increases the concentration of nitrogen in dog urine.
To solve this issue without reducing protein consumption in your furry friend, you can feed him human food, vegetables, and fruits. These edibles do not reduce nitrogen in dog urine but only balance the effects of protein. Besides, they can also provide various health benefits.
But there are some caveats attached: first, it is recommended to consult a vet before feeding your dog human food. And second, although there is a lot of advantages of dogs eating vegetables and fruits, always do some research before letting your dog have any of them as some do more harm than good, like citrus fruits, grapes, raisins, onion, garlic, etc.
For benign vegetables, you can offer your dog beats, beets, broccoli, and carrots. Similarly, you can let your canine pal have fruits such as bananas, watermelon, pomegranates, apricots.
2. Hydration
The more hydrated a dog is, the more grass-friendly his pee will be. Just as in the previous point, dogs having better water levels in their body lead to their balanced diet and diluted nitrogen in urine. Therefore, provide an appropriate amount of fresh and clean water to your canine daily. You can also increase your dog’s water intake by serving him wet canned food.
Nevertheless, if you keep your dog hydrated well, brace yourself for him converting into a peeing machine.
3. Spraying the Area
Right after your dog pees on the grass, just grab a hose and spray the area with water. Doing so also dilutes the urine, as mentioned in the last point, but this time after it has left the body. As a result, the impact on grass will lessen.
4. Supplements
There is a variety of supplements available in the market which are specifically designed for balancing the pH and nitrogen in dog urine. These products, thus, limit the consequences on grass.
PetHonesty Chews for Dogs is such item containing natural ingredients like cranberry, probiotics, and apple cider vinegar. Besides maintaining the greenery of your lawn, it also keeps your dog’s digestive system healthy.
However, care must be taken as supplements might contain DL-Methionine for acidifying urine in dogs. Though they will leave the grass greener, they are especially harmful to the pooches suffering from kidney and liver diseases. It is also recommended to check with a vet before feeding these supplements to dogs having stone problems.
5. Dog Rocks
Feeding dogs items that alter their urine pH is often frowned upon, so if you don’t want to feed any supplements to your dog, dog rocks can be an effective alternative.
Having filtering properties that remove impurities like tin, ammonia, and nitrate, which lead to killing grass, dog rocks are naturally occurring stones capable of preserving your lawn. Just add these rocks into your dog pal’s water bowl and see the effects. Nonetheless, it is advisable to add other solutions listed here in addition to this one to make sure your grass remains safe.
Dog Rocks is a brand offering such igneous stones mined in Australia. When used properly, they keep the yellow marks on the grass at bay.
6. Training
Training dogs to pee in a designated area only is a great idea, but it could be a bit difficult, especially when your pup is used to peeing wherever he wants. Moreover, training would be a bit different for male and female dogs. Using a pee-post and some liquid attracting products work fine for males. For females, it is somewhat complex. Just leash your dog and do not let her move until she urinates.
However, regardless of the gender of your dog, always make sure that your reward them whenever they do a good job. Additionally, you also need to be patient during the whole training process.
Simple Solution Pee Post sticks to the ground and encourages your dog to eliminate only in a specified area.
7. Caring for the Lawn
Regular maintenance keeps a lawn green and clean. Although doing so will not completely keep grass burns away, it will make your lawn much more resistant. Proper irrigation, improving soil, and controlling weeds can help a lot in this regard.
It is also advisable to use hardy grass types only. Though such grass is not completely resistant to dog weewee, it can withstand better. Common types include perennial ryegrass, Kentucky bluegrass, zoysia, and Bermuda.
In addition, consider limiting the use of fertilizer on your grass. As the key component of fertilizers is nitrogen, they will only make the matter worse when dog pee is added.
8. Walking
Consider taking your dog on walks often, especially in the morning. It can help keep your lawn green as your pooch will have plenty of other places to pee at. However, it is better to keep your dog leashed so that he may not end up urinating anywhere undesirable.
How to Fix Yellow Grass From Dog Urine?
Make your lawn great again! Fixing the grass turned yellow due to dog pee on it can be done in two ways:
Painting
For quick fixes, paints work best. They instantly turn the faded grass green again and are especially useful when fixing is required on short notices such as the sudden arrival of guests.
Lawn Spot Dog is an animal, kid, and plant friendly, and rainproof grass paint that can do the job in just two minutes.
Repairing
Fortunately, grass treatment solutions for small patches are also available. EZ Seed Dog Spot is a specially designed solution to grow grass. It also contains salt neutralizers which are great for burnt grass.
FAQs
Some commonly asked questions regarding dog urine on grass are:
Will Baking Soda Neutralize Dog Urine on Grass?
No, baking soda does not neutralize dog urine on grass. As described in the beginning, grass turns yellow due to nitrogen, and baking soda is beyond the prowess to neutralize it. Conversely, since plants do not react well to salts, you may end up harming your grass if you use it.
Does Tomato Juice Stop Dog Pee Killing Grass?
No. Tomato juice cannot stop dog pee from turning grass yellow because it does not alter the level of nitrogen in dog urine.
Will Grass Recover From Dog Urine?
The grass usually recovers itself when it turns yellow due to dog urine, provided the affected patch is small. However, if the patch is large, the fixing remedies discussed earlier need to be implemented.
Does Dog Urine Killing Grass Depend on Gender?
Not really. Since females tend to stay in one place while peeing, their grass spot is denser and bigger. On the other hand, males usually urinate along their way, thus making the pee spot more scattered and small.
Summing Up
How to stop dog urine from killing grass naturally? There are various methods by which you can reduce the impact of nitrogen – the main culprit – present in your dog’s urine on grass. Every method includes certain cautions; however, the use of dog rocks and proper training has almost none. Likewise, if the damage is already done, luckily, there exist ways for restoring the lost grass too.