Hi, Do people have suggestions for how to deal w/ this? We let our dog
out in the back yard and a few days later I find these six-eight inch
circles of dead grass..

Is there anything I can do to counter this? Thanks.

Lots and lots of water sprinkled over the spot he urinates on, so as to
dilute the urine down, and not give to the soil such a high acid intake all
at once. It wont totally fix it, but will make the spots less noticible.

--
Anna Merchant

NB. All things said are my own opinion unless otherwise stated.

"Sundar Narasimhan" wrote in message
news:Zoxva.847784$S_4.863712@rwcrnsc53...
Hi, Do people have suggestions for how to deal w/ this? We let our dog
out in the back yard and a few days later I find these six-eight inch
circles of dead grass..

Is there anything I can do to counter this? Thanks.

On Sun, 11 May 2003 19:21:30 GMT, Sundar Narasimhan
wrote:

Hi, Do people have suggestions for how to deal w/ this? We let our dog
out in the back yard and a few days later I find these six-eight inch
circles of dead grass..

Is there anything I can do to counter this? Thanks.

Litter box?

Dan

On Sun, 11 May 2003 19:21:30 GMT, Sundar Narasimhan
wrote:

Hi, Do people have suggestions for how to deal w/ this? We let our dog
out in the back yard and a few days later I find these six-eight inch
circles of dead grass..

Is there anything I can do to counter this? Thanks.


Dilute it with water immediately?

On Sun, 11 May 2003 19:21:30 GMT, Sundar Narasimhan
wrote:

Hi, Do people have suggestions for how to deal w/ this? We let our dog
out in the back yard and a few days later I find these six-eight inch
circles of dead grass..

Is there anything I can do to counter this? Thanks.

Cork or tourniquet ?

zhan

zhanataya wrote :
Is there anything I can do to counter this? Thanks.

I hope someone does respond with an actual solution - it may be,
depending on where you are, that there is a variety of grass suitable
for your area that is tolerant of the ureic acid that is the culprit,
here. Ureic acid, as excreted by your dog, is very strong. In a much
weaker form, it would act like a fertilizer (thus, conversely,
over-applied fertilizer will burn). The idea of watering heavily
immediately would actually help a lot, if it were practical. Which it
sure isn't in my case - no way I'm traipsing around the yard with a
hose, waiting for my dog to *finally* decide to pee.

So, having a "litter box" - an area designated for the dog to use -
would also make sense, if your dog is amenable to that. One hazard of
trying that is, you risk having a dog who's neurotic about where she
pees. NOT a happy result - there'd be no telling where she might wind
up believing is the best alternative if she's not at home with access
to her "litter box".

We have just accepted that this is part of having a dog - thin/bare
spots on the lawn (which tend to fill in with weeds). We do our best
to keep the lawn happy in general - mild fertilizer twice a year, cut
it often and not too short, and we always have a bag of seed
available, are always re-seeding the bare bits.

As I said, I do hope someone has something concrete (hey! There's a
thought - or not) to offer, but when last I researched this, nothing
was available.

I've heard of the litter box idea in BC before but haven't heard of
any problems arising. I don't know about your dog, but ours is
neurotic about where it goes anyways, at least in the backyard! There
is only one 8ft square area where he pees and poohs! He will,
however, pee or pooh during our walks without caring much about it...

A potential problem with a "litter" box is that they are actually just
sand boxes. You want to make sure that neighbourhood kids, or
visiting kids, don't want to go play in the sandbox!

Best of luck!

K

(Tegan) wrote in message . com...
zhanataya wrote :
Is there anything I can do to counter this? Thanks.

I hope someone does respond with an actual solution - it may be,
depending on where you are, that there is a variety of grass suitable
for your area that is tolerant of the ureic acid that is the culprit,
here. Ureic acid, as excreted by your dog, is very strong. In a much
weaker form, it would act like a fertilizer (thus, conversely,
over-applied fertilizer will burn). The idea of watering heavily
immediately would actually help a lot, if it were practical. Which it
sure isn't in my case - no way I'm traipsing around the yard with a
hose, waiting for my dog to *finally* decide to pee.

So, having a "litter box" - an area designated for the dog to use -
would also make sense, if your dog is amenable to that. One hazard of
trying that is, you risk having a dog who's neurotic about where she
pees. NOT a happy result - there'd be no telling where she might wind
up believing is the best alternative if she's not at home with access
to her "litter box".

We have just accepted that this is part of having a dog - thin/bare
spots on the lawn (which tend to fill in with weeds). We do our best
to keep the lawn happy in general - mild fertilizer twice a year, cut
it often and not too short, and we always have a bag of seed
available, are always re-seeding the bare bits.

As I said, I do hope someone has something concrete (hey! There's a
thought - or not) to offer, but when last I researched this, nothing
was available.

On 12 May 2003 07:34:29 -0700, (Tegan) wrote:


Is there anything I can do to counter this? Thanks.

I hope someone does respond with an actual solution - it may be,
depending on where you are, that there is a variety of grass suitable
for your area that is tolerant of the ureic acid that is the culprit,
here. Ureic acid, as excreted by your dog, is very strong. In a much
weaker form, it would act like a fertilizer (thus, conversely,
over-applied fertilizer will burn). The idea of watering heavily
immediately would actually help a lot, if it were practical. Which it
sure isn't in my case - no way I'm traipsing around the yard with a
hose, waiting for my dog to *finally* decide to pee.

So, having a "litter box" - an area designated for the dog to use -
would also make sense, if your dog is amenable to that. One hazard of
trying that is, you risk having a dog who's neurotic about where she
pees. NOT a happy result - there'd be no telling where she might wind
up believing is the best alternative if she's not at home with access
to her "litter box".

We have just accepted that this is part of having a dog - thin/bare
spots on the lawn (which tend to fill in with weeds). We do our best
to keep the lawn happy in general - mild fertilizer twice a year, cut
it often and not too short, and we always have a bag of seed
available, are always re-seeding the bare bits.

As I said, I do hope someone has something concrete (hey! There's a
thought - or not) to offer, but when last I researched this, nothing
was available.

I've followed this particular discussion on several occassions. I've
yet to read anything that sounds like a reasonable solution. I
believe a person will just have to accept it as part of having a dog
and trying to keep the perfect lawn at the same time. Some posters
have in the past recommended altering the animals diet with tomato
juice and such. I don't think that would be a good idea to do without
checking with the dogs vet first. Maybe the best compromise is to
keep the dog in the back yard where it is private, and shoot the
neighbor that lets their dog pee on the front yard.

Is there anything I can do to counter this? Thanks.

I finally remembered why I never bought the product that I saw on the
shelf at the pet supply place. Because the instructions were to apply
it as quickly as possible after the dog pees, and then to water the
spot very heavily. Yuh huh. I failed to see how spending whatever
they were asking for the product solved the whole problem with the
watering heavily idea, so didn't buy. Wish I'd thought of the
marketing idea, though.

"Sundar Narasimhan" wrote in message
news:Zoxva.847784$S_4.863712@rwcrnsc53...
Hi, Do people have suggestions for how to deal w/ this? We let our dog
out in the back yard and a few days later I find these six-eight inch
circles of dead grass..

Is there anything I can do to counter this? Thanks.

Dogs and "lawns" are incompatible. Give up one or the other. That doesn't
mean you can't have green growing stuff as a "yard", it just means that the
idea of a perfect monoculture has to go away.

Sunflower
MS 7b

I have heard that you can put sugar down on the spots and then water it in.
The counter acts the nitrogen in the urine. I only tried one spot on my
lawn so far but it seams to work. maybe get a giant bag of sugar at your
local wholesale store.

Chris


"Sunflower" wrote in message
...

"Sundar Narasimhan" wrote in message
news:Zoxva.847784$S_4.863712@rwcrnsc53...
Hi, Do people have suggestions for how to deal w/ this? We let our dog
out in the back yard and a few days later I find these six-eight inch
circles of dead grass..

Is there anything I can do to counter this? Thanks.

Dogs and "lawns" are incompatible. Give up one or the other. That
doesn't
mean you can't have green growing stuff as a "yard", it just means that
the
idea of a perfect monoculture has to go away.

Sunflower
MS 7b

Tegan wrote:
zhanataya wrote :

Is there anything I can do to counter this? Thanks.


I hope someone does respond with an actual solution ..
Thank you Tegan. I think we may end up where you (and your dog) seem to
be.

Sundar Narasimhan wrote:
Thank you Tegan. I think we may end up where you (and your dog) seem to
be.

You're most welcome, Sundar, glad the time I spent trying to find a
solution could help save you some time - that's what the groups are
all about. And I'm glad the live-with-it approach works for you; the
company of a dog is too wonderful a thing to let the small matter of a
lawn get in the way of.

Sundar Narasimhan wrote in news:Zoxva.847784$S_4.863712
@rwcrnsc53:

Hi, Do people have suggestions for how to deal w/ this? We let our dog
out in the back yard and a few days later I find these six-eight inch
circles of dead grass..

Is there anything I can do to counter this? Thanks.


I just saw this today (sept) and just wanted to respond, if anyone sees it.

Actually, someone did give the best response most vet / pet supply stores
will give you .... water the spot thoroughly. And another one mentioned
that it is a fertilizer burn ... also right again.

It's not that you have to follow your dog around with a hose, but if you
water (sprinkler or direct hose) the area they use often, it does help
dilute the nitrogen that is causing the burns.

Lori Ann (owner of two dogs on 3+ acres, so fortunately, they have lots of
room to fertilize :-))

Tomato juice!! Someone told me to add tomato juice to the dogs food
daily and the acid in the juice would dilute the acid in the dog
urine. At first I thought they were crazy but it did work, the
following spring I started giving both dogs tomato juice daily and no
brown spots. I've been spot free for two years.

I hope this helps, it's also a lot cheaper than the other stuff you
buy.

Heather