One belief that most people have is that if you have a pet, or more specifically a dog, you aren’t going to have a nice yard. It’s simple, dogs dig up flower beds, dig holes in the lawn and their urine leaves those wonderful burn marks in the grass.

It is just a horrible thing to see and many people just give up without a fight when it comes to deciding between a nice lawn or a happy dog. Still, there are a few things that you can do to keep your lawn healthy and happy the whole time you have a dog or three running around.

First things first, don’t get too down on your dog if he starts destroying your lawn. Things happen and usually it is the owners fault more than the canines. Now that we have that figured out, lets get to the lawn.

One of the biggest complaints that pet owner’s have about dogs and lawns are the burn spots caused by their urine. Now, this isn’t a blog for pets but since some landscapers either have pets or know people that need help with those burn spots, I thought I would take a minute to talk about ways to get rid of those problem spots on your grass.

First, the damage done to a lawn isn’t caused by the actual urine but is in fact caused by the nitrogen that is found in the urine. Have you ever noticed that there are more burns when a person owns a female dog and less with males? This is often because a female will empty her bladder in one spot while a male will distribute it around a space (marking). The amount of nitrogen is spread out and it doesn’t affect a yard as much.

If you prefer to not worry about the grass at all, the best option for you is to add into your landscape plans, an area of gravel or mulch where the dog can go to the washroom. This is actually one of the easiest ways to alleviate the problem of burnt grass but make sure that you avoid using that particular gravel or mulch in your flower beds since the dog may have difficulty differentiating between the two areas.

If you want nice beautiful grass, one of the most inexpensive options is to go outside with your dog and pour a bucket of water on the spot where your dog has urinated. This gets rid of the nitrogen and you should be able to avoid the yellowing stains in your yard.

Since not everyone has time to get out there and pour buckets of water, there are several products available for both pets and lawns. I’m not sure how I feel about feeding pets pills to cut down on the Ph level in their urine but I know that many pet owners have begun to use them. If pills aren’t the way you want to go, you can always go with a treatment for your lawn, such as Pet Peeve, which is an organic treatment that should prevent yellow spots as well as correct burns that have already occurred.

Whatever your choice for dealing with unsightly grass stains, rest assured in knowing that pets and green grass can now be enjoyed by all.

Sirena Van Schaik

Tags: dealing with pet stains, dogs, grass burn, grass stains, green grass, green lawns, landscaping lawns, Pet Peeve, pet stains, pets, urine burn, urine grass stains, urine pills, urine stains

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