We are having an issue the past 2 years after the winter ends/snow melts finding more and more dead spots in our grass in the area's that our 2 female dogs use the bathroom. Throughout the winter we'll pick up the poop within a day but come spring this has been getting worse each year. It does not seem to happen or get worse any other time of year so only during snow fall (maybe w/ the snow packed down in that area paired w/ the dog urine?). Wondering if anyone has any advice? we tend to stay pretty minimal w/ treatments on our grass having small kids and dogs so hoping to keep it as non-invasive as possible . thank you fo the help!
#2
sgkent
that could be fungus too. You might consider doing two soil tests, one in the dead area, and one farther out in the green, and comparing them. We water the area our female dog goes with the hose for 10 - 15 seconds so to dilute the urine. It contains high amounts of nitrogen which can kill grass. But fungus does that too, and in your photo the damaged area is in the shade so it may be that the soil has different chemistry and organisms in it. I use Waypoint in Memphis TN for our soil tests. It is in the $20 - $25 range per complete test. We send the samples USPS. Use a soil probe or shovel to dig the sample and put in a plastic baggie. Label each with what it is. I use the "S3M with nitrate-N" test.
thanks for the input! i'll check that out! that area gets good sun in the morning until about 1pm and then shade. those spots are exactly where the dogs go so i'm thinking its related to the urine/nitrogen like you said. weird that it ONLY happens after the winter though. if that is what is going on , any advice how to treat it after the fact to repair the spots that are there now? once its in better shape i'll definitely look at how to handle it better next winter then
I'm in Wisconsin so usually from December-March'ish.... One other thing that could be part is these are the area I shovel the heavy stuff so it's only a couple of inches (so they have a spot to go) so didn't know if it being matted down snow that's making it worse
also in case it matters, the past 2 winters in Wisconsin we get decently cold weather starting in mid november/early December and dont get any snow really until very late December/early Jan so ground would be frozen probably by first snow fall i'd bet
#7
sgkent
when does it die? The only other thing I can think is that the dog's urine freezes then thaws all at once. If that is the case you might try flooding the area with water when the thaw starts. Otherwise you have to water it until the excess goes away or the bacteria break it down and reseed. Or you can put something else there that doesn't have plants in it like path fines and put a walk thru it in to the grass
as much as i can tell at the beginning of winter its fine and then come spring when everything melts we see the new dead area's. like i said in that area its where the dogs leads let them go and when we get bigger snowfalls i'll shovel just the top layers off so its not quite so deep for them (and easier for me to cleanup the mess )
#9
sgkent
next year try flooding the area with sprinklers or a hose with lots of water anytime there is melt to help dilute the urine concentrated in the snow. If we don't hose the area our female dog goes in each time for 20 - 30 seconds it burns.
yup i'll have to try that next winter. thanks for the tip! i'm hoping some of it might come back this year if i leave it but given how it looks probably looking like only option is to reseed that whole area , hey?
We have the same thing happen but to a lesser degree, not as bad of burning. We get it in the summer but not nearly as bad as the winter. It would seem the concentration of your dog’s urine is also very high. You might also check that the water intake of your dog or dogs is adequate and ask your vet about the levels in their urinalysis. Your grass also appears to be super healthy, better than ours, at least in that image, so that also leads me to suspect the urine is very strong. The type of grass you have may also be extra sensitive to over-fertilization. Maybe the soil analysis will show a better pH balance would help. I bought an inexpensive meter (~$20) so I can test my soil’s pH any time in different locations. If it’s already low, it wouldn’t take much fertilizer/urine to burn it I think!
#13
sgkent
seed is inexpensive, Flood it well to wash out any excess nitrogen. One thing that concerns me in the photos is that the grass near the dead spots is not growing like crazy. Usually when it is a urine burn the grass outside the dead zone grows like crazy from the excess nitrogen.
Also - if you keep nitrogen high in a yard the dog urine will burn it worse. Don't fertilize as often in areas the dogs frequent. The urine will get broken down by bacteria and become available nitrogen.
I have no personal or even hearsay experience with this product, but you might look into Dog Rocks. It's a Natural Urine Prevention that you place in the dog's water bowl (or submerge in a water jug that you fill the dog's bowl with). It does not change dog's urine pH, but does claim to remove nitrates. It is not cheap ($40 for 6 months worth from Chewy). I think the other suggestions of sending off a soil test and training the dogs to go in a designated desirable spot are good. I have had about 80% success with taking the dogs to a designated spot, failing when I get lazy and take all four dogs out at once and lose control of the situation.
#15
sgkent
Having had dogs that got bladder stones, and several that got TCC (bladder cancer), I would be cautious about any water additives. 1 in 5 Scotties gets bladder cancer, 1 in 7 Westies, and there are some other high incidence breeds. At this point the research world knows that they are not born with the cancer gene but something changes at an average of around age ten or eleven. 2,4 D is a known carcinogen in dogs but ours has never been exposed to it so that did not cause his TCC. That said, I would error on the side of cautious with any additives that change the dog urine chemistry.
thanks everyone for their help here! so the healthy grass actually does grow strong around the dead spots but here in Wisconsin we're sloooooow getting into spring this year so still in the 30s/40's for temps so its just now starting to grow on us. we'd prefer to not go the additive route for the pups to just not mess with their system if we dont have to. I will definitely mention to the vet thought to get their take but appreciate the idea! how it looks now think theres much of a shot any will grow back on its own? otherwise sounds like our best action plan is like someone said to flush it best we can and reseed and hope for the best? tricky part is this is the best area for us to put the pups on a line to go out for their business so be tough to keep them away w/out some fencing or something. i saw something at the hardware store thats marketed for repairing pet dead spots i was curious if it was gimmicky too
Another issue may be salt use. Do you use sodium chloride as an ice melt? If you do, sodium may, over time, poison the soil. I had this happen for my WI lawn along the drive and sidewalk where a contractor hired by the previous owner routinely used rock salt as a thaw agent for ice. I took care of the issue by using generous applications of lawn gypsum and mechanical aeration plus watering the affected turf repeatedly to leach out the sodium. I then reseeded and was successful in getting new growth. I do not use sodium chloride to thaw. When I must thaw ice, I use calcium chloride instead. I also switched to use of Milorganite instead of chemical fertilization to eliminate the potential of chemical fertilizer burning of the turf grass.
thats a great point too! in this area we do have a walk way but i almost never use the ice melt or anything since the dogs walk in that area so didnt want it messing with their paws. there as a little bit i've used a couple of times but pretty rare but good to keep in mind for sure! i may give this a try and see if it helps Scotts EZ Seed Dog Spot Repair Sun and Shade - Scotts
i'm looking how long i'd need to keep them off of it though since their lines let them go to either side of the deck so i'd have to either block this w/ a cheap fence setup or somehow shorten the lines to make them go the other way
#19
sgkent
pour a concrete pad and put in a large dog run rather than tie them up.
we actually let them out from a door that is on a deck w/ 2 open sides to have 2 30' lines that come right to the door so we probably could just block one side or something
Following up on this....a month after applying the Scotts pet patch repair ( and sprinkler on some of their general patch repair to make it go further) and in my tests it's worked fantastically . Here's a before/after
That pattern seems strange for Dog Urine. Have you checked for Cutworm or White Grubs. Fence in a 6'x6' or similar area and cover with ground cover cloth then 1" crushed stone. Train (make) the dogs do their business there. Get a few rolls of sod. Soak each in a 5 gal pail of water for a few minutes and cut out patches. Dig out dead grass, place on new sod, cut matching patch and plant.
