Dog pee killing my grass: anyone used "dog rocks"?

kervil_ave, Dec 8, 5:52am
This may be a long shot but does anyone have any suggestions about how to mitigate dog pee killing off grass? Short of following my boys around with a watering can : )
I was googling and came across these things called dog rocks - basically an igneous rock which you put in their drinking water. sounds like a lot of jiggery pokery to me. Does anyone have any practical suggestions; come across any magical lawn repair products? Thanks
annies3, Dec 8, 10:52am
The lawn will grow back with a bit of moisture on it, but my hedge plants don't we have found that the brown patches do repair them selves so just make sure the lawn doesn't get too dry, any suggestions re the hedges ? I suppose hosing them might help too.
cleggyboy, Dec 8, 1:41pm
A gardening program many years back addressed this issue, feeding rice to your dog neutralizes the acidity in their urine. It works as my dog gets rice in his boil ups and no plants/weeds here die unfortunately.
susan, Dec 8, 2:56pm
Rice can't be digested by a dog so all you'll be doing is making bigger piles of stinking poop. Change to a raw diet like K9natural and the problem will go away. I raw feed all my dogs and have no problems with brown patches
hare1, Dec 8, 2:59pm
It is mainly female dogs and they can make a real mess of the lawn. We tried everything with our girls and no luck.They did a better job than weed killer.!I use to have to keep patching the lawn.Tried rocks as a last resort and at around $30 dollars they were a joke! I now have a poodlepom boy and no problems and a lovely lawn again.
cleggyboy, Dec 8, 4:11pm
I disagree and my vet was the one to suggest it. It is cooked of course.

Some veterinarians suggest dogs should eat foods that contain rice as an ingredient, while others say rice should be added as a supplement to the basic diet, since it is easily digestible.
http://www.dognotebook.com/should-my-dog-eat-rice/
dbab, Dec 8, 4:24pm
I disagree with this too.
When our dog had pancreatitis a few years ago, it was recommended we feed him cooked rice with a bit of chicken mixed through it, until his digestive system came right.
samanya, Dec 8, 10:04pm
I used to feed my little guy (Bichon) mince, veges & rice all cooked up & never once did he get those horrid brown stains around his mouth & he thrived. As he aged I 'upped' the meat content.
As to the piddle/lawn problem . I'm sure i read that a dash of cider vinegar in their water solves the problem.
Just googled to make sure i wasn't dreaming & found this
http://purrfectdogtraining.com/articles/killing_grass.pdf
brightlights60, Dec 8, 11:15pm
Put a couple of teaspoons of apple cider vinegar in the drinking water. Works a treat.
jane310567, Dec 8, 11:52pm
It's not acid - the wee acts like fertilizer(nitrogen) but too concentrated on one spot so it kills the lawn. Males have the same wee but its not directed in one stream in one spot. I have heard of the apple cider vinegar but not tried it, We ended up replacing lawn with garden instead!
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/article.cfm?aid=88
brightlights60, Dec 9, 3:36pm
We solved our problem with no go dog zones. Section is separated into 4 lots, drive and gardens, back area devoid of grass, beautiful front garden and decking (no dog area!) and large, length of the section dog run mostly covered, has gated areas down one side of the house. Works perfectly. In all the years we have had dogs, they can come out front for parties etc and are extremely well behaved as they know its a treat to go out there.
oh_hunnihunni, Dec 9, 4:04pm
I second the vinegar trick. A bit of baking soda in the water source does the same thing.
oh_hunnihunni, Dec 9, 4:06pm
A bit of baking soda/and or white vinegar in the bath water also takes care of the staining on both ends with white coats - and it's great for human beings as well. Try it in a foot bath - the skin softener effect is magic.
kervil_ave, Dec 10, 3:50am
Oh wow everyone thank you so much for all the great suggestions! I will take them all on board. I'll try a bit of apple cider vinegar in their water bowl for starters; hopefully they will still drink it (one of my boys is supremely suspicious of the slightest change in anything). Both my dogs are males and are doing a great job between them of killing off the lawn. I recently re-turfed an entire area and they're making patches on that now too but at least the grass is thicker so may survive a bit better. I do water the grass every day as it gets very dry here. I might try a diet change - i feed them premium vet bickies: Hills; Royal Canin etc but still do give them tinned meat so maybe I should cut out the tinned stuff and replace with fresh mince or something? And rice - they love rice so will be stoked with this modification! I'm going to go and read the article on the link now. Thanks for the recommendation not to buy the rocks either; you saved me $30!
lythande1, Jul 9, 11:45am
Yep. For sure.
Keep the dogs out of the areas you want to recover.