Dog urine
Animals, especially female dogs, can cause considerable damage by urinating on lawns.Animal urine contains salts, urea and other solubles.
The salt content determines the extent of the damage. When the salt content of the urine is low and the affected soil is moist, the damage may be minimal and simply result in faster growth of dark green grass in the affected area. However, when the salt content is high and the lawn is dry, the potential for damage is high. A patch of bright yellow dead grass will form surrounded by rapidly growing dark green grass.
The damage is staggering and is the same as throwing salt on the lawn. The only difference is that in these cases, there is no margin of green grass to grow more luxuriantly around the patch of dead grass.
THINGS TO DO TO TREAT DAMAGED AREAS AND PREVENT FURTHER DAMAGE
The damage caused by dog urine is usually permanent, and there's no cure for damaged plants. Sometimes, if the damage isn't significant, watering the area will help reduce the salt concentration, but you'll likely need to rake and overseed the damaged area.
When a dog lives in the garden, it's extremely difficult to prevent this type of damage from occurring. Watering the area after the dog urinates will help disperse the salts, but it's certainly not practical to constantly monitor the dog for urination and immediately intervene with watering. If practical and possible, the best solution would be to train the dog to urinate in a specific area where it won't cause any damage, or where the damage will be limited.
The damage caused by dog urine is usually permanent, and there's no cure for damaged plants. Sometimes, if the damage isn't significant, watering the area will help reduce the salt concentration, but you'll likely need to rake and overseed the damaged area.
When a dog lives in the garden, it's extremely difficult to prevent this type of damage from occurring. Watering the area after the dog urinates will help disperse the salts, but it's certainly not practical to constantly monitor the dog for urination and immediately intervene with watering. If practical and possible, the best solution would be to train the dog to urinate in a specific area where it won't cause any damage, or where the damage will be limited.
