Knowledgebase
Dog Urine Lawn Burns #877874
Asked July 19, 2024, 12:17 AM EDT
I contacted someone in the MSU Horticulture lawn department years ago to ask for some advice to maintain a lush green lawn. I live in Brighton, Michigan and have very Sandy soil. I was advised back then to fertilize four times a year with one of those fertilizers being crabgrass killer in the spring. I was also advised to mulch in leaves and grass clippings and overseed in the fall.
All have been very successful for me, but I am now struggling with dog urine burns. I have tried different products such as dog rocks and supplements to change the pH of the dog's urine, all did not help. I started running a sprinkler in the area daily, with little luck. I am now following the puppies around with a bucket of water and dousing their urine goings right after they go. I'm not sure yet if this will work, as I just started yesterday.
I am wondering if you have any other successful tips for this annoyance?
Thank you so much for your help!
Livingston County Michigan
Expert Response
Unfortunately, there is little that can be done. You can keep your dog off of the turf that you want to be aesthetically pleasing and train him to use an inconspicuous patch of grass to urinate. You can also follow behind him and water the area thoroughly with a watering can to dilute the urine after he is finished. The best defense is also to employ cultural habits that will result in the strongest, thickest lawn possible. More details on good cultural care of your lawn is given in this article: https://www.extension.purdue.edu/extmedia/ay/ay-327-w.pdf
I hope this helps. Thanks for using our service.
Thank you! Do you have a recommendation for how much water is enough to dilute the urine with?
Here is more information. I can't find any actual numbers for dilution ratios.
Cause, Cure and Prevention of Dog Urine Damage on Lawns (colostate.edu)
Thank you!
During the growing season dilute the urine with a spray of water. For spots that develop over the winter and over time, water and reseed. See the following for additional information.
https://apps.extension.umn.edu/garden/diagnose/plant/turf/circular.html
https://www.petmd.com/dog/care/how-keep-dog-pee-ruining-your-lawn
I hope this helps. Thanks again for using our service.
Could you please clarify whether it is beneficial to dump water on the spots where dogs urinate in the winter months? That wasn't clear from your answer to me. I have been using this as a preventative measure to prevent yellow spots from even occurring. I have been keeping a bucket of water outside near the door to do this, but this time of year the bucket will freeze. I wasn't sure if it's beneficial to the grass and the roots of the grass to dilute the urine with a gallon or two of water from a bucket to prevent the urine burns from happening in the first place. I, of course, cannot reseed it until September due to using crabgrass preventative in the spring months. Thank you for the clarification and all of your help.
I find no research where it is beneficial since the ground is frozen.
Hi. Thank you for your response. I know this is not research, when I Google it I find many articles that say it is beneficial unless there's enough snow on the ground. Here is one of the links I found. I will continue the best I can when there is not sufficient snow on the ground. Thank you!
https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/1791894/can-dog-urine-cause-damage-in-winter
