Yard Burn

[Guest Houndie]

A friend mentioned that she is thinking about trying a product called Yard Burn from Drs. Foster and Smith. The purpose of the product, given in tablet or biscuit form to your dog, is to reduce the yellow spots in yards caused by urine burn. Has anybody tried this product, and does it work?

[Guest Houndie]

For some reason, I couldn't edit my previous post, but the product is actually called Lawn Guard, and has yucca and other ingredients that help break down the urine, so as not to burn the lawn.

[JAJ2010]

I'm hesitant to put any chemicals or odd things in my dogs 'just to make the yard look nicer' but I guess some people do since there are many types of this for sale.

[ahicks51]

Yard burn is caused by salts dissolved in the urine of your pet. Inasmuch as there's no reasonable way to remove these (what comes in must come out), the solution to pollution is dilution. Alternatively, train them to pee in one corner of the yard.

[Guest Ola]

I wouldn't give my dog anything like that - who knows what kinds of urinary or kidney issues it might cause over the long term. Urine is actually a fertilizer, it's just too strong the way it comes out. If you pour water on it right after, it will dilute it and will actually cause the grass to be even nicer than in other spots! Some people find it easy enough to keep a watering can or hose around and just squirt/hose the area that's been peed on. I'd probably start doing this just after the "long" pees (i.e. overnight) when the urine would be most concentrated and see how that works.

[Guest Swifthounds]

You either love green lawns or happy dogs. You can minimize damage by restricting potty to certain areas or hosing/spraying affected grass, but you can't really change the urine of a dog without harming the dog.

[Guest Houndie]

Thanks for your responses. Those are pretty much the same things I told her, but she told me she thought it must be safe if a place like Dr. Foster and Smith would sell it. Her concerns are not really about her yard, but for the yards of others when she walks her dogs. Somebody came out and confronted her when her dog urinated on his yard. She lives in a neighborhood with really large, well manicured yards, and it was awkard for her. She does not drive, so her options are limited, for finding some place else to walk her dogs. She thought this might be something to help keep the peace in her neighborhood.

[ahicks51]

Makes sense to be considerate.

 

In that event, she could carry a liter bottle of water, and dilute the spot where they urinate. As before, the solution to pollution is dilution.

[Ragsysmum]

We have long thick bright green grass growing whevever on the lawn my girl pees. I guess this is something to do with the chemical makeup of her pee, though I'm not sure what it indicates. Must admit though.....I do keep guiding her to the bare, brown and grotty looking patches in the hopes she'll work miracles there too!!

[Guest MyBoys]

We have our 3 boys using the yard to potty and still have nice green grass, we do however have a sprinkler system so I believe that is a big help in deluting the urine. We don't put anything at all down to kill weeds since the boys will eat grass quite often. I think deluting is the best way to go to keep a yard green. Here is a pic of our all natural no fuss yard and it is still early spring.

[Guest Swifthounds]

Do they not have curbside grass strips where she lives? I know my neighbors would not be pleased if my dog peed on their lawns (and it's trespassing, so if you have a snarky neighbor it can lead to issues).

[Guest Houndie]

Do they not have curbside grass strips where she lives? I know my neighbors would not be pleased if my dog peed on their lawns (and it's trespassing, so if you have a snarky neighbor it can lead to issues).

 

 

They do have sidewalks, and she said the dogs did their business on the easement side of the sidewalk, but it still upset the neighbor. I'd guess her dogs were not the only ones doing their duty there, but he just happened to see hers, and came out and said something to her.

[Guest Swifthounds]

As long as she picks up after her pooch, I'd tell the neighbor to pound sand. IF she wants to be nice, she can bring along water to dilute urine.

[TheFullHouse]

The only thing I've found that works is plain old water. If she's walking her pup, have her carry a spray bottle with her and soak the spot where her pup goes.