Brown stains on the grass?

[lassie]

How do you get prevent the stains on the grass where the bitches have peed, Somebody did say to me use cider vinegar!!

[MrsRottie]

I reckon cider vinegar would do more harm than good....it's more acid. The best bet would be to either dilute it heavily - put the hose over the patch after your dog has done wee-wees or neutralise it with a weak bicarbonate of soda solution. It may fizz a bit but once it stops then it's neutralised the wee. Rinse just to be safe afterwards.
And give lots of grass food when you can!!

[lassie]

Lol................ think its something to do with alkaline if i remember right. p.s. we have a hose pipe ban here:(

[zoe08]

I was looking at PetSmart the other day and they have several things there that are supposed to prevent dog spots.. I dont know if they work, but we bought a spray bottle of "No Dig" out of the same section to see if it will help keep the dogs from diggy....I feel bad cuz my sis's backyard is full of holes, and we have filled them in lots of times...

[dlambertz]

in talking to a landscape designer friend of mine...water water and more water. immediately after your girl urinates you need to water down with at least 4x the amount with water.

[livin4thelord8]

I believe there are products to help this problem. Doctors Foster and Smith carry some I think. Good luck and God bless!

[lassie]

Problem is here in the UK we have water hose pipe bans.
Will have a nosey round Pets at Home. cheers guys

[kelsiebug]

uhhhhhh......... :o i know im goin to sound like a huge idiot but whats a ban???? LOL! im a blonde......

[lassie]

2. Is Your Dog’s Urine Burning the Lawn? Yellow spots on the lawn are normally caused because your dog's digestive system is too alkaline, therefore the acidity in the urine causes the lawn spots. A dose of one teaspoon to one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar (depending on the size of the dog) per day will correct the pH imbalance and should solve the problem. The apple cider vinegar can be added to the dog's water or put directly on his food. The natural type from a health food store, not the pasteurized version from the supermarket. Two tablespoons of tomato juice on the dog's food twice a day will have the same effect.

found this on another forum

[retriever crazy]

2. Is Your Dog’s Urine Burning the Lawn? Yellow spots on the lawn are normally caused because your dog's digestive system is too alkaline, therefore the acidity in the urine causes the lawn spots. A dose of one teaspoon to one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar (depending on the size of the dog) per day will correct the pH imbalance and should solve the problem. The apple cider vinegar can be added to the dog's water or put directly on his food. The natural type from a health food store, not the pasteurized version from the supermarket. Two tablespoons of tomato juice on the dog's food twice a day will have the same effect.

found this on another forum

thanks alot our lawn is looking really bad and i think i just might try that

[pittiegirl]

From another forum:

The grass dying has NOTHING (N O T H I N G) to do with the dogs health, whether or not they are spayed or neutered, what they eat (or don't eat), their urine PH or acidity levels. Nothing. Nadda. And there is NOTHING (N O T H I N G) you can feed them to "fix" the problem. Nothing. Nadda. Zip.

Here's exactly WHY it happens. Dogs urine is high in NITROGEN. ALL dogs - spayed or neutered or intact, kibble fed, raw fed ... ALL dogs. Nitrogen is a fertilizer. It helps grass grow and makes it green. Don't believe me? Go to your local lawn care store and look at the ingredients on a bag of grass fertilizer. There are three main ingredients - nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Most bags are labeled with numbers - like 18-6-12. Those represent the percentage - by weight - of each ingredient.

Ok, last bit about lawn care. Nitrogen, in high amounts, will BURN your grass.

Now - go outside and really look at those burn marks in your lawn. Notice how the outside edge of the burn mark actually has really nice, green grass? That is because the nitrogen burned the grass it soaked into but the outer edges of the 'circle' of urine ended up with just enough nitrogen to help instead of hurt.

There are ways to keep this from happening but NONE of them have to do anything the dog eats or drinks. There is no way that I know of to change the nitrogen level in dogs urine.

So - how DO you save that lovely lawn? Here are a few options. #`1 - set aside an area the dog CAN use as a bathroom where you don't care what happens. Fill it with pee gravel or just leave the grass there to get burned. Teach the dog to go in that one spot. This will take time and patience. #2 - take a bucket of water out and pour it on the spot where your dogs urinates - each and every time they urinate. This is also time consuming and not everyone watches their dogs all the time they are outside. If the grass is very healthy you could probably get away with missing a few spots - but if it's dry (like mine) or dormant - you need to water the spots every time. Option #3 - get used to the look. :-)

I was surfing and stumbled across yet another site saying that giving the dog tomato juice or apple cider vinegar would fix the problem. No, it won't. ACV won't hurt the dog - it's actually good for them. Don't know much about tomato juice (although aren't they usually high in salt?) but neither one of those products will reduce the NITROGEN in a dogs urine. And that's what burns the grass.

You don't have to take MY word for this. Here are a few links from the 'experts':

http://www.doggienews.com/2005/06/dog-urine-and-dead-grass-truth.htm
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=2&cat=1551&articleid=1493
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/plantanswers/turf/dog_lawn_problems.html

[pittiegirl]

And I would be very hesitant about messing with a healthy dog's urine PH or acidity levels. It is too easy to get out of whack and cause a urinary tract infection, or worse, crystals, or worse yet stones. It would have to be constantly monitored and some research done on proper levels.

[dlambertz]

http://www.extension.umn.edu/yardandgarden/YGLNews/YGLN-Nov0199.html

here is a really good article that explains ph and nitrogen

[retriever crazy]

And I would be very hesitant about messing with a healthy dog's urine PH or acidity levels. It is too easy to get out of whack and cause a urinary tract infection, or worse, crystals, or worse yet stones. It would have to be constantly monitored and some research done on proper levels.

kk.... thanks :)

[lassie]

well im gonna giveit a go. BTW Do know that if you decide on the cider vinegar it MUST be of the highest quality;)

Kelsie a BAN means NO Hose pipe use. We have a water shortage!

i always thought the stains were due to too much alkaline in the urine.;) is this not the case?

[Becky]

Sorry, I'm a bit late.

You are correct in that grass burns have nothing to do with pH. If it did, my lawn would have been dead a long time ago when I dumped my fish tank water (pH 8.5) onto my lawn. And, what about people that live in areas with hard, alkaline water?

Pittiegirl's post is 100% accurate. It has everything to do with nitrogen and compounds (urea and ammonia) that contain nitrogen.

[lassie]

Fogive me for asking this is it only bitches urine that stains the grass then or males as well?

[ChessieLvr]

Dogs stain the grass as well. Many dogs lift a leg, thus not going on the grass as much as a bitch. Unfortunately my boy squats, so he stains my grass too.

[lassie]

ah that explains why my fir tree looks unwell:D . Thanks;)

[Adorabull]

Here in Aus you can buy a product called dog rocks and you put them in their water bowl and I have heard they do work !!:)

[Becky]

I still wouldn't do anything to mess with the nitrogen levels or pH in your dogs system. It may also be grubs, so you might want to check that our before you mess with your dog's system.

Better is to give them a designated area to go or dillute it w/ water, (1/4 gal. is more than enough usually). Or, come to like the look of the yellow spots :D .

[lassie]

Lol well they are a talking feature here now