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What is the best way to neutralize dog urine so that every time he goes, he doesn't kill my lawn?
By Wally from UT
Your dog needs more water so that the pee is undetectable. A dog which gets enough water, is not dehydrated and so like humans, will pee fairly clear. Catch your dog peeing and capture a sample for the vet to check. Yes, it is easy. My dog on leash (German Shorthair) kept her inside, pushed fluids, and when she whined to have to pee now, I leashed her up, put on rubber gloves in case she/I missed, and followed her out the door. I had a huge new disposable cup that when she squatted to pee, I got my cup full. She did not care as she had to go now. And did and gave the sample.
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Does anyone know what to do when your female dog urinates and burns the lawn each and every time? We are giving her tomato juice with her food, which we were told would offset the acid in her urine.
Thanks,
Terry from Fall River, Nova Scotia
Best and easiest way is to dilute it by using a bucket of water or your hose. Training a dog to use an area made like a sand box for all "business" is worth the time it takes and easy to cleanup. (08/02/2007)
By Rod
I have read that adding vinegar to your dog's water will neutralize the urine so it doesn't burn the grass. I forget the ratio of vinegar and water. Maybe someone has that information. (08/02/2007)
By Laura
The idea that female dogs' urine is more damaging than that of males has been disproven. They probably paid some scientists big bucks for that research project. It's only because females tend to pool all the urine in one place whereas males tend to sprinkle more widely. If the urine is diluted sometime within up to eight hours, the effect of the urine is entirely healthy for the lawn, supplying nice nutrients. Let the female dogs be innocent! or at least only as guilty as the males. (08/02/2007)
By kimhis
Tomato juice, in and of itself is acidic. I would think that would make the problem worse. I agree with the sandbox method.
There are plants that thrive on acidic soil. Perhaps you could devote a lawn section to those plants and train her to go there (?) (09/17/2007)
By U*u*U
Is there a way to neutralize dog urine? My very large dog is killing the grass. I've heard putting apple cider vinegar in their drinking water will neutralize it, but he doesn't like the taste. Any suggestions?
By Deb from Lloydminster, Alberta
Well, urine is a concentrated nitrogen blast to plants, just like burning with too much fertilizer. You can actually use urine (mixed 20 to 1) as fertilizer, though I doubt most will do it unless they just want to experiment, or the time comes when we can't get fertilizer. The problem is it's hard to tell where the dog went, until the lawn browns. If you could tell where it went, just blast spot with lots of water.
It's true, vinegar neutralizes ammonia which is the burning agent, but after the fact, it's not going to do you any good. The best thing is to watch where pup went and flush spot with water. Or train her to go in one area, and by flushing with water daily, you increase the odds of grass living. (02/02/2010)
By PIKKA
Every where our female dog urinates outside kills our grass. Can anyone help save our lawn? Thanks,
Sharyl from UT
At our garden club meeting last month, the county agriculture representative said the only thing you can do is follow your dog and dilute the urine with lots of water. In other words, there's nothing convenient you can do. (05/08/2005)
I can offer advice that will prevent future dying grass.
NatureVet makes a product called GrassSaver. It's a vitamin and amino acid supplement for dogs which will neutralize the pH of your dog's urine so it won't burn the lawn. I order it from PetEdge, but you can probably find it at any pet supply store. (05/08/2005)
By Gail C
I have two dogs, one female, and we have no problems with the grass at all and they always use the same area of the lawn. They eat Hill's Science Diet Senior 7+. Maybe it's the food or a combination of lawn chemicals and dog urine or the grass type. We don't use any products on our lawn at all and cut with a reel mower (no motor), so we get a longer cut and are not as harsh on the grass. We also never water the lawn, so we don't get any chlorine on it from treated water. (And yes, we do have thick grass.) Unfortunately, I don't know what type of grass we have. (05/08/2005)
By guest
In the Fosters and Smith dog catalog there are products for this. I think they are pills or additives to their food. (05/09/2005)
By Donna J.
I had read that you can add cranberry juice to your dog's water to prevent the grass from yellowing. I don't remember how much cranberry juice to add to what amount of water. Maybe you can research this and find out the measurements.
(05/10/2005)
By mkymlp
I have used regular barn lime, its cheap and helps neutralize the urine. You put it on with a broadcast spreader right before it is going to rain, then a couple days later fertilize the area with a good lawn fertilizer. (05/12/2005)
By Jason
Black olives, I know that it sounds funny, but I had a neighbor that noticed the stains on my back lawn where my dogs go and he suggested sliced black olives. We bought a small can and within a week it worked. We use an eighth of a cup with every meal. We now go to a wholesale club and mix them into the dog food. I swear by it. (06/22/2005)
By Joseph
The best way to protect your lawn from dog urine is to use a product called Dog Rocks. It is very simple to use; you put some into the water bowl and need to change them once in two months.
This does not play with the ph levels of the dogs urine like Grasssaver does and has no chemicals
it is a naturally available rock in Australia. (08/09/2005)
By Zia
Gypsum calcium sulfate works wonders, the only down side is really there is only one person selling it. The price is high, but it sure cured my problem. Try, Bringbackthegreen.com
(04/08/2007)
By Rick
Joseph, how much does your dog weigh? I love the black olive idea. I've also heard that tomato juice works (if you can get your dog to drink it), and also Brewer's Yeast, which is also good along with garlic oil for preventing fleas. (04/28/2008)
By Lorna
Do NOT give your dog tomatoes. Tomatoes can be toxic to dogs. And large quantities of garlic can cause health problems as well. I think I'm going to try the black olive trick to see if it works. We've only had our dog for 3 weeks, and our grass is showing the effects. (05/02/2009)
By jagodfrey08
