Dog urine killing lawn? Now, that’s a problem many a dog owner has faced and it causes frustration and annoyance that on the one hand we want our dogs to enjoy our garden, on the other, WE want to enjoy our garden as well!

Our well kept lawn is now looking more like a patchwork of green and brown circles because our beloved dog has seen fit to create their own little patterns.

Of course, it’s really not their fault. I’m positive if your dog knew how, he’d process his internal chemicals to such an extent that instead of killing our lawn, his toilet trips were able to grow us a beautiful little flower to remind us just why we love him so much!

In reality, dog owners with ‘doggy patches’ all over their grass is a problem we can solve with just a few simple steps.

How to Stop Dog Urine Killing Your Lawn

Bev McDonald offers her insight in to how she tackled this common canine problem….

It never fails, my two dogs – both lovable and protective Rottweilers – seem to enjoy urinating in the same spot of the backyard, day in, day out. Whether it’s morning, noon or night, it’s down the steps and to the right, donating copious amounts of healthy, adult dog urine in an approximate 4-square-foot area.

The result is a large patch of brown, ugly, burned-out lawn that surrounds the bottom step of the deck. For my nicely landscaped backyard, the large urine burns are rather unsightly.

I realized that unless some serious changes are made (and getting rid of the dogs was NOT an option), then these spots were not going to go away on their own, so I had to start my research and will not share with you what I learned to keep my grass green and my dogs happy and to try and prevent dog urine killing my lawn.

Why Dog Urine Turns Grass Brown

It’s no secret that urine burns grass, as well as many types of shrubs, annual flowers and perennial plants. What causes the burn is nitrogen. When a dog eats a meal, the protein in the food is metabolized. A byproduct of metabolized protein is nitrogen.

The kidneys are responsible for the collection and secretion of many of the body’s unwanted excesses, including byproducts of metabolized foods, such as nitrogen. So, if all is going well with the dog’s bodily functions then excess nitrogen will be flushed out of the dog’s body through his urine.

Here is where things get a bit tricky: Those who work with lawns and plants know that nitrogen is used as fertilizer. So what’s so special about the nitrogen in dog urine that causes it to kill everything green it touches? The secret is in the solution, so to speak.

With fertilizers containing nitrogen, a small amount goes a long way. If you’re using a rotary spreader (which is used to fertilize the lawn), spilling a pile of fertilizer in one spot would be similar to a pool of urine. The concentration would be too high and would kill the grass below.

Once grass is dead from nitrogen burn there’s not much you can do to revive it. If you want healthy green grass, you’re going to have to replant this area. You’ll need to rake up the dead grass and plant new seed.

Replanting dead areas, however, is somewhat of a “band-aid” approach. If you don’t get to the root of the problem (dog urine), you’re likely to wind up with more dead patches of grass all over the lawn.

So, without further ado here’s my top tip to stop dog urine destroying your lawn…

put a small blob of tomato ketchup in their food every day and watch what happens.

Sounds simple, yes? It is! Try it and observe.

So if you’re having similar problems with dog urine killing your lawn, now you have a workable solution that you can implement very easily.

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2 comments
  1. Very informative article, I never heard of the ketchup solution. I use a Porch Potty,it’s a potty for dogs, I love it! My dogs go in the same place every time, it’s easy to clean and no brown spots.

  2. Hello,
    Thanks for raising attention for this issue – many dog owners are scratching their heads over grass spots!

    I have never heard anyone who had success with the ketchup in food trick but glad if it’s working for you!

    NatraTurf makes an organic, pet-safe product you can sprinkle on the grass spots to get rid of the urine burn. Check out SpotGone! at http://www.NatraTurf.com &/or visit http://www.Facebook.com/SpotGone. It’s an awesome product!

    Courtney – momma to 3 large grass-killing dogs. 🙂

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