Adding a dog as a new member to your family can be very exciting. Puppies are cute, loveable creatures that bring joy everywhere they go, except when it is time for them to relieve themselves. When dogs urinate on your lawn, the acidity in the urine will burn the grass and cause it to die. Below are a few tried and true methods for welcoming a pup into your family without having your lawn ruined at the same time.
Keep Your Pup Hydrated
The more hydrated your dog is, the more diluted their urine will be. If their urine is diluted, it will be less acidic, which will cause less damage to your grass. Leave water out for your dog to enjoy at all times of the day, as long as you are able to take him or her out to urinate regularly.
Train Your Pup
Establish a specific location where you want the dog to urinate. If they have one place to do their business, the grass in that location is the only grass that will be subjected to the high acidity.
Hydrate the Problem Areas
Pour water on any spot where your dog urinates right away. The water will dilute the urine, which will lessen the acidity levels. Cold, warm, or hot water can be used to dilute the urine.
Fix Dead Spots Quickly
If you start to notice that there are dead spots developing in your yard, use a rake to rake up the dead grass. Sprinkle grass seed directly onto the affected area and then cover it with straw. Water the area regularly and within a few weeks, you should see new grass growing in the damaged location.
Hire Professionals When Needed
If you attempt to regrow the grass and it doesn’t grow for you, hire a landscaping company, such as MBM Grounds Maintenance, to evaluate the issue for you. They will be able to run tests to determine if the soil has too much acidity to be able to grow grass. If it does, there are methods they can use to restore the nutrients to the soil so grass will grow again.
If you follow the tip provided, you should see minimal damage to your yard from when your dog urinates. If you start training your dog when they are a puppy, the entire process will be much easier. It is often easier to train a dog when they are young than when they are older because they will not have any ingrained habits yet.
