Dead grass from dogs suggestions

We have two decent sized male dogs that have just ruined the grass with their piss. I just got done tearing out the dead grass and about to lay some seed to see if we can repair the damage.

Does anyone have any suggestions that will help with this problem? We have tried the green grass chewable tablets and those didn't work.

Thanks.

Dog urine burns grass because of the high nitrogen content. Mixing apple cider vinegar in their food or water will take care of this. The challenge is some dogs won't drink or eat after adding the vinegar due to the strong taste. A couple table spoons daily per dog will do the trick.

I have two dogs also, and they do the same thing. I tried every pill out there, and even tried the vinegar approach. They wont eat with that stuff in their food though. I have a designated area that i trained them to use, but with two kids, its impossible to stay on top of the training. They use the designated area about half the time now. I now just am constanlty overseeding the dead spots, and that seems to help. I have about 3 dead spots right now, but they will be gone within the next 2 weeks or so, and i will keep reseeding all year to try and keep it down to a minimum. Good luck. Is a pain in the ass, and i hate to see a nice lawn turned into that cuz of dogs, but they are worth it in the long run.

I have heard that watering it everyday so the pee doesn't sit there helps.

Thanks for the suggestions. We are going to really try and train them to go in the rocks, but the issue we have is the invisible fence that was installed. They know the grass is safe so that is where is they go. We will try to show them that some of the rock area is safe, but who knows. They are pretty stubborn.

Originally Posted by psudy

I have heard that watering it everyday so the pee doesn't sit there helps.

You need like twice as much water to pee ratio in the saturated area to prevent it from browning. And that needs to be done immediately, otherwise the urine hits the roots and your screwed.

I had the same issue in about the same size yard. Even after getting my dogs trained to go in the rocks on the side of the house, I couldn't keep my lawn going. They just tear it up running around and such. I now have a nice deck.

i am fighting the same battle. I have heard putting some tomato paste in their food everyday helps but havent tried it. Has anyone heard of or tried that approach?

Tried it a couple years ago. I didnt notice a difference. Each dog is different though.

Are your dogs overweight or over fed? I have heard this is more of a problem with higher than necessary protein intake. Results in more poop and higher concentrations of whatever kills the grass in their urine. I don't know if its true, but sounds plausible to me.

Also heard to put something in their water that encourages them to drink more thus peeing more and reducing concentration that kills grass.

No idea if these work, just things I have heard. Good luck

Originally Posted by BTV

Are your dogs overweight or over fed? I have heard this is more of a problem with higher than necessary protein intake. Results in more poop and higher concentrations of whatever kills the grass in their urine. I don't know if its true, but sounds plausible to me.

Also heard to put something in their water that encourages them to drink more thus peeing more and reducing concentration that kills grass.

No idea if these work, just things I have heard. Good luck

I was just reading an article on how a high protein diet could be a source of the problem. I did switch them to a higher protein dog food about 5 months ago because one of them was looking a little underweight. If this is the problem then I am stuck in a catch 22 because he looks much healthier with the new food.

I just purchased a pee post thing that will hopefully help train them to go in the rocks.

Haha. I tried that post. My damn dogs chewed it up! I hope it works for you.

Don't know if ingredients in food would have anything to do with it.

I switched my dogs to a grain free dog food about a year ago. I feed them less volume of food, but they maintain weight better (especially in hunting season). Also their coat looks better and they don't crap as much which is nice. Costs a little more, but well worth it in my opinion.

I researched this a couple years ago. A lot of people were against the tablets, etc. as they believed they were not good for the dog. I never went with the tablets after reading this. I only have the problem in the heat of the summer. The pee is almost like over fertilizing. If you notice, around the browning is actually usually greener. It's like dumping fertilizer in one place. I usually just take a garden hose and hose down the spot my dogs go in. The girl is the worst as they just spray one spot. The males usually are less of a problem (though mine pees like a girl because he is a sissy) because they just spray it everywhere.

If I was in the desert SW and had as much rock as you guys have in your landscaping, I think I would just install the newer AstroTurf on the lawn and call it a day...

I have a friend who owns 4 dogs and a beautiful backyard. He setup a side yard for the dogs to do their business and he trained them to potty there. Pretty easy but requires a short period of intense focus. Breaking the current habbit will make it harder too.

My side yard that I setup for the dogs to do their business. We keep it clean picked up and I power wash it every couple of weeks when I power wash the decks (we don't have real grass in the back at discobay). The underside is 3" of decomposed granite and 1/2" of sand. I purchased the fake grass off costco.com. I have since added a gate at the end of the grass before the air conditioner.

LOL - the fire hydrant is a nice touch.

I can't win with these dogs. They could care less about the pee post. When I catch and stop them from going in the grass they would rather hold it then go in the rocks. Last night one of them pissed in the house. I have never seen them do that before. I tried the apple cider vinegar and he puked on the carpet this morning. Is it too much to ask for a nice yard?

take them for walks instead of letting them pee in the back yard, and let them piss in your neighbors yard haha. jk that sucks man. i don't know what to tell you, we just put up a wrought iron fence to let our dogs ruin a portion of the yard, at our old house, but our yard was much bigger than yours. i think you can try pills and every other option on the planet but nothing is going to work as well as spending the time to train them on where you want them to go. we train our dogs to duck hunt and its ALOT of work but they are the most well behaved dogs and they listen so well. (not saying your dogs aren't trained, you just need to train this new behavior). do a search for it and spend the time to do it right. don't buy the gimmicks and junk, positive rewards even if its a small treat or just a hug and good playing. you might have to do a temp fence or something around the area you want them to go and when you let them out to go, just put them in there until they do it, then reward them. then you'll be able to take the barrier down later. I don't know just some suggestions.

You can't just 'catch' them doing something that has previously been ok, tell them to stop, and expect them to catch on. Like others have said, you're going to have to setup a temp area/border and spend the required amount of time with them for it to stick. It won't be easy nor overnight, especially if they aren't pups.

Take them out on a leash. After they do their business in the correct place, give them a reward and let them off the leash. Be consistent for several days.

thought Id bump this up, as I have found a solution! at least for my dogs. Dog Rocks.
I have seen zero new stains in the last 6 weeks! Doesn't change the dogs ph balance or anything. $20 shipped from amazon. Supposed to last 2 months, but I'm gonna replace every 6 weeks or so.

Looks good . I'll try it.

Nitra King get it at a sprinkler supply company