How To Fix Dog Spots In Your Yard
Dogs are man’s best friend but they are NOT your yard’s best friend. When a dog does their business in the grass, it leaves some pretty bad spots in the grass. This phenomenon is terrible especially in the winter, when the spots are able to build up and hide under the snow. Spots in your lawn make it look terrible and will lead to you not enjoying your outdoor space as much. So doing something about it!
Why do dogs make dead spots in my lawn?
Before we tackle the fix, let’s drill down to the cause. Dog spots are caused by having too much nitrogen in a dog’s urine. The extra nitrogen hitting the grass discolors it and start to kill it. It’s the same as not having a professional fertilize your lawn and overdoing it. The nitrogen comes from all the protein that a dog usually eats. The body processes inside the dog convert all that protein into energy and the byproduct of that chemical reaction is nitrogen.
How do I fix dog spots in my lawn?
Simplest method – Water the grass
Right after your dog is done peeing, take a hose or bucket of water and splash water on the area. This dilutes the nitrogen in the urine and spreads it out over a wider area. This is also nice because you can give your grass a little drink. Of course the downside to this method is actually going outside with your dog every single time it pees which is frankly not ideal.
Possibly works but repurcussions – Have your dog drink more water
You can use ice cubes and water down your dog’s food to make them drink more water. This will dilute the urine inside the dog before it comes out, thus decreasing the amount of nitrogen in the pee. This can possibly work but we would say it’s not really worth the trouble. More water means more pee trips and, most likely, more accidents inside the house.
More work – Build a pee area/Train your dog to pee in an area
When we had a dog growing up, this is what we did. It’s quite a bit of work, positive reinforcement, and yelling, but training your dog to do their business in a smaller area in a back corner can save a lot of headaches. You can combine this with building an area that’s less grass to really tone down the grass damage.
As you can see, there are many ways to get your lawn looking as good as your dog makes you feel. If you’re needing some more lawn maintenance help, please give us a call at 763-568-7251 or fill out a quote request. We can do everything from fertilizer to lawn mowing to outdoor drainage.
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