Owning a dog means training it to go to the bathroom—typically outside. This could mean damaging your lawn if your pup isn’t trained to pee in one spot. While the best way to prevent dog urine damage on your lawn is to train your dog to take care of business somewhere else, there are other things you can do to limit the damage.

Signs of Dog Urine Damage on Your Lawn

When your dog is running around outside and stops for a potty break, do you notice if it’s the same spot every time? Is this spot now void of grass? If there are brown spots across your lawn, it could be caused by nitrogen-rich urine. While the small amount a dog typically uses to mark spots shouldn’t hurt—especially if you have a small dog—the amount collected over time can do some damage—especially if you have a large dog.

Protecting Your Lawn from Damage

There are some things you can do to limit the damage to your lawn:

• Dilute with water after the dog is done to decrease the burn.
• Don’t fertilize in the same area. Both fertilizer and urine contain nitrogen, and too much isn’t a good thing.
• Plant urine-resistant grass, like ryegrass and fescue, that aren’t as sensitive to the nitrogen.

How Your Dog Can Reduce Damage

If you can’t seem to get your dog to go in one area, try these tricks:

• Have your dog drink more water. The urine will be less concentrated, meaning less damage to your lawn and a healthier pup.
• Try dietary supplements. Ask your vet about what you can add to your dog’s food that will help bind with the nitrogen in the urine.
• Keep up the training. Practice makes perfectly nice lawns without urine damage. Some dogs tend to go to the outskirts of the lawn, or you can try to pick a nice spot that doesn’t have any grass, maybe just dirt and gravel, that’s more tolerant to frequent nitrogen deposits.

Treating Dog Urine Damage on Your Lawn

Once the damage is done, there are lawn repair treatments to help bring your grass back to life. Some products contain organic enzymes that cleanse the soil by flushing out the salts from the grass roots. Make sure whatever products you use are safe for animals, or keep your dog out of the area for as long as necessary.

For more lawn treatment options, contact the specialists at Cardinal Lawns to find out how you can protect your grass from all types of damage.

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