Brown Spots in your Yard?

Many home owners who have dogs are bothered with the effects of dog urine on their grass. When your dog relieves itself on your grass, you can expect your grass to turn brown or yellow.
dog spot solution

Are you one of those dog owners who loves your pets but hate what they can do to your lawn?

You are certainly not alone in this problem. Many home owners who have dogs are bothered with the effects of dog urine on their grass—brown spots in your yard. When your dog relieves itself on your grass, you can expect your grass to turn brown or yellow. If you are trying to maintain a good lawn and an evenly-colored grass, dog urine spots are the last thing you want to happen.

Lately, we have been receiving lots of phone calls from people curious as to what causes dog urine grass spots and how our Dog Spot Solution product works to help the problem. When we examine the composition of dog urine to understand just why it has that effect on grass, we find that it is due to the nitrogen in dog urine.

Nitrogen is not completely bad for your grass. In fact, as anyone who has ever applied fertilizer to a lawn knows, the proper amount of nitrogen can be very beneficial for grass. Too much nitrogen, however, is not good for your grass. Your dog's urine is simply packed full of it. Nitrogen is odorless by the way, so just because Fido's pee is particularly pungent doesn't mean anything about his nitrogen level. Maybe he got into your asparagus?

So what can you do about dog urine on grass? If you catch your dog before or during the act, you might have a chance to stop the brown spots in the lawn. But you can't spend your whole day spying on Fee Fee trying to catch her giving the lawn the business. So you need some other way to prevent the concentrated nitrogen overload.

Of course, we are more than happy to sell you some of our product, but being a transparent organization, we believe that also providing a few tips would also be of value to you. Try a few of these remedies to prevent your lovable dog's pee from damaging your lawn.

  1. It's the amount of nitrogen in dog urine that's killing your grass. If you can't stop your dog from going on your lawn, then minimize the amount of fertilizer you put on your lawn. Or you could just use fertilizers that have less or no nitrogen content. Soil conditioners are often a better alternative.
  2. Make your dog drink lots of water every day. Having more fluid in its body makes him produce urine that is a lower concentrate of nitrogen. Every time you find your dog peeing on the grass, you can spray water on the grass area where your pet urinated. This will dilute the nitrogen concentration.
  3. Vary the location of where the dog goes. Female dogs tend to always empty their bladder in one location. Stop this concentrated application by varying her access to certain parts of the lawn.
  4. Apply a specialized soil conditioner such as Dog Spot Solution to the area. The organic acids will bind the nitrogen while the beneficial microbiology assimilate it so that it will not burn your lawn.

Changing your dog's diet will not work. While protein is believed to produce more nitrogen in your dog's urine, lessening the protein content will make an unhappy and unhealthy dog while providing little effect. The best way to eliminate brown spots on your grass is to create systematic habits to prevent them while maintaining a well-balanced and healthy lawn. Excessive nitrogen will always burn your lawn. Make certain that your grass has a wealth of organic acids and beneficial microbiology to handle the overload.

About the Author

Mike Usry

Mike Usry

President

This was written by Mike Usry, the President of Southland Organics. Mike is an entrepreneur and soil enthusiast with a passion for educating on agriscience-based topics to help business owners and homeowners alike grow plants, turf, poultry and more. Mike received his Bachelor of Science in Education from the University of Georgia and his MBA from the University of South Florida. The combination of his education and experience has given him a deep understanding of both business and the science behind our products. Mike founded Southland Organics in 2009.

Learn more about Mike Usry

Isabella (Izy) Dobbins

Marketing Manager

This was edited by Isabella (Izy) Dobbins, Southland Organics' Marketing Manager. Izy has devoted her education and career to communicating science-related topics. With an enthusiasm for sharing accurate and honest content relating to science and agriculture, she ensures Southland Organics' publications are as informative as they are interesting. Izy graduated from the University of Georgia with a bachelor's degree in advertising, minors in both Spanish and environmental health science and a Certificate in Sustainability. She has been working at Southland Organics since 2021.

Learn more about Izy Dobbins

Izy Dobbins
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