Is killing my grass..I have been sprinkling lime over the spots..any other suggestions? Thanks

I would imagine it is a burn from the nitrogen cycle doing its thing, and burning spots in the process. I don't remember enough chemistry to be of adequate help. Any chemists post on the board? ?:|

Is your dog a female? I've got an uncle who swears that it is only females that burn spots on your lawn. My contention with that is that males don't normally squat, hence the urine is sprinkled over a much larger area (or a vertical surface), and it does almost the same damage, but is less noticeable. If it is your dog that is the problem, my suggestion is to retrain your dog to use a certain area (a neighboring tallgrass open field, or perhaps a wood-mulched area on your property) to use as the head.

I looked at the Gardens Alive site, because I thought I remembered something about this, but I came up empty. Had you tried a web search on the subject?

Good luck. :8}

Oh yeah, if it is neighbors' dogs that are causing the problem, you may wish to invest in motion-detector sprinklers to persuade them that your property isn't the best spot to mark their territory.

When I was 11 or 12 years old, my father would pour water over the spot the dog peed (if he was lucky enough to see her going). She was MY dog, so I was responsible for digging up the yellow patches - especially in the spring - and reseeding the grass. I would have to go around and water them and make sure the spots grew back. There really isn't anything else you can do about it unless you contain your dog to a certain area of the yard that you don't care about.

I have to attest to the fact that male dogs do the SAME thing. My 110# malamute can do some serious damage in our yard - talk about urine volume! He has killed 3 shrubs and even managed to kill the rhubarb last summer. I would rather have spots on the "grass" in my yard - I don't maintain my lawn, than have my dog kill my plantings. I guess it is part of having animals, though. He is worth more than shrubs and rhubarb to me - ANY DAY :x !

you can apply gypsum. Best application time is in the fall.

Yes, she is female. My fiance gets sooo mad b/c I walk her everyday, well she waks a little ways and then I load her up in her Radio Flyer (we make everyone smile on the way to work b/c she is a 55# pit bull that looks like Petey for the little rascals). I leave from the front door so when we return home and I take her out she trots over and pees along the shrub line. He can handle it in the back yard but the front makes him mad. It is not convienent for me to take her and the wagon out the back door..I guess I could wheel her around and drop her off in the back. HMM I guess I figured out a compromise, I guess I just needed to type it out

According to a gardening show I watched on TV, female dogs excrete certain hormones in their urine that do indeed cause more damage. My last 3 dogs have been males so I can't vouch that it's correct info. My little Scotties and Corgis haven't done much damage.

I thought there was something you could feed the dog to help nutralize the urine.

Dog urine is high in ammonia/nitrogen and also very acidic.

You can also apply a strong compost tea mixture loaded with something sugary like plain sugar or any molasses product. The compost will supply plenty of beneficial microbes, while the sugar will increase the microbial activity and reproduction in the soil. This combination will speed up the decomposition of the dog urine, while adding nutrients and soil microbes to help improve your soil at the same time.

you could try keeping a big watering can full of water near where she pees. pour a gallon or so of water over the spot right after she pees, and that should dilute the nitrogen. I tried this with my own dogs a couple of years ago with some success.

Harriet

I skipped the tea and scattered a handful of table sugar on my dog's spots a couple years ago. In 3 weeks (in January) I had grass growing like spring time, but it was only growing on the urine spots where I put the sugar. There is a balance between nitrogen and carbon in the soil. When the dog supplies too much of one, you can supply the other to balance it out.

Got nothing useful to add, but an observation! Years ago at the zoo I saw a Rhino pee. Looked like somebody turned on a faucet full blast for a long time. Maybe it's a good thing you don't have a rhino! :O

Some grasses are also more resistant to dog pee than others.

The area where my dogs do their business is all crested wheat grass and it absolutely thrives! I had hoped eventually that the dogs would kill it off and I'd reseed with a decent lawn grass, but no such luck, I've got the tallest greenest grass you ever saw.

Captain Compost has some good suggestions or you could sprinkle a 50/50 mixture of gypsum and lime on the Spot(s).