Pee stains

GETTING RID OF THOSE YELLOW PATCHES ON THE LAWN

TEXT: SARAH WANLESS

We all know the struggle of having stained or “burned” patches of grass on our lawn from where our dogs go to pee, but what causes them?

THE CAUSE

As with humans, the food our dogs ingest is broken down into nutrients and absorbed into the bloodstream, with waste products filtered out by the kidneys. The urine our dogs produce is then a product of our dog’s diet and the chemical processes taking place in their body.

What kills your grass isn’t the urine itself but rather the nutrients (chemical compounds) in the urine, particularly nitrogen. As the water in the urine evaporates during the day, it leaves behind a high concentration of nitrogen. While nitrogen is beneficial for grass (it is, after all, found in fertilisers) in the concentrations found in urine, particularly once the water has evaporated, it is actually harmful.

The concentration of nitrogen in your dog’s urine varies due to many factors, such as sex, breed, size and diet. For instance: larger dogs generally urinate more, thus causing more damage; female dogs squat when they urinate, meaning the area is more concentrated than with a male who sprays their urine over a larger area; and diets higher in protein tend to increase the nitrogen content in urine since protein breaks down into nitrogen compounds.

HOW TO COMBAT IT

Drinking more water lowers the nitrogen concentration in the urine.

Fear not; all is not lost! We have a few suggestions to keep your lawn green, happy and healthy:

• Encourage your dog to drink more water. This is not only good for overall health, but also dilutes the nitrogen in the dog’s urine.

• Train your dog to go potty in a designated ‘pee spot’. Depending on where this pee spot is, your grass may be saved altogether, but at the very least, it can minimise the damage to one particular spot.

• Try rinsing the area down with water. After your dog has gone to the loo, you can pour water on the area to help dilute the concentration. While this isn’t always possible if a designated “pee spot” isn’t an option, this is a good potential alternative.

• Take your dog out for a wee whenever possible. Even if you live in a house with a garden, taking your dog out to wee frequently prevents large volumes of concentrated urine from building up in your dog’s bladder.

• Dog Rocks (tried and tested by us). Dog Rocks are a 100% natural product from Australia, and they really help in reducing the yellow patches on your lawn. Dog Rocks are actual rocks that you place in your dog’s water bowl that help to filter out the impurities of tin, ammonia and nitrates, resulting in cleaner drinking water, reduced yellow patches and a happier and healthier dog and owner.