NA: dog ownership + lawn care

GeorgeC

GeorgeC

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GeorgeC
I used to have a lawn, but after a year of being a dog urinal, it's got dead spots / dead areas with occasional surviving clumps of grass.

Are there species of grass that are more tolerant? Should I just plant wildflowers or whatever is fashionable? Go the xeriscaping route and cover the yard with crushed stone or permeable pavers and call it a day?
 
Crushed stone rocks, so to speak (see what I did there?) unless it is lava rock. Don't get lava rock. Lava rock has nitrates in it and can aggravate weeds. I just recently found this out after about four years of lawn rock.
 
I think male dogs are better when it comes to peeing on grass.
 
We miss our dog terribly, but the lawn is one reason we won't get another.
 
We have an area of pea gravel behind the garage where we insist that the dog go to pee.

Fun fact: When the snow gets really deep behind the garage and you decide to make a couple passes with the snow blower to make it easier for the dog, the frozen brown stuff makes a big thump when it hits the garage wall.
 
Morgan3820 said:
Female pee helps grass grow
Male dog pee kills it. Too many nitrates. Burns the grass, or so I have read.
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Not my experience. Female dogs squat and pee, depositing all of the nitrogen, salt, everything in a very concentrated area. Male dogs spray it all over the place.

Best thing to do is train your dog where you want him/her to pee. Put 'em on a leash and train 'em. They will take the training and continue with their newly formed habit. I have two big pine islands where the current dog is trained to pee. My border collie (long gone) was amazing. I have no idea where he peed or pooped, but he did both as far away from the house as possible - we have a 1/2 acre fenced, wooded back yard and he went somewhere out there.
 
My sister has a male dog. She got a letter from the HOA because the dog killed the grass.
 
In the 80s, we built a "kitty litter" box for our Great Dane. Was basically pine bark chunks with lime. The dog was on a run so if he wanted to go he had to go there. I've never heard about anyone else doing this so maybe my parents were crazy. I'm currently trying to train my dog to relieve himself on astroturff. It's not going so well.
 
kyleb said:
Not my experience. Female dogs squat and pee, depositing all of the nitrogen, salt, everything in a very concentrated area. Male dogs spray it all over the place.

Best thing to do is train your dog where you want him/her to pee. Put 'em on a leash and train 'em. They will take the training and continue with their newly formed habit. I have two big pine islands where the current dog is trained to pee. My border collie (long gone) was amazing. I have no idea where he peed or pooped, but he did both as far away from the house as possible - we have a 1/2 acre fenced, wooded back yard and he went somewhere out there.
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Be aware of possible consequence of that: we had a couple of dogs that were good about using our backyard. The first time we visited my sister, the dogs held it far longer than usual as if waiting for us to get home so that they could relieve themselves in our backyard. Eventually they used my sister's yard. We'd take them for a walk and they wouldn't pee/mess until back in our yard.
 
I am too lazy to walk my dogs on a regular basis, but really that is the best way to prevent them from pooping and peeing on the grass. We have a dog run, really a fenced in area where all my mechanics for the house are. Until recently it was gravel, but after the last hurricane I am redoing my landscaping and now it is pavers. The dogs pee and poop there, I clean it up every morning before I go to work and every evening when I get home. No fuss. Before that we gave them the run of the property, and they did their thing on the grass and really had no problems with dead grass from either pee or poop. Had to stop letting them have the run of the property because the stopped reacting to the invisible fence and would wander around the neighborhood.
 
At home I rarely see where our dog goes either way. Never pick it up at home since he has 3 acres to do it on. Only .9 acre is ours and the rest is my neighbors yard. He uses both I think?
We have been neighbors for 39 years. I cut her grass and help maintain her yard for 20 years now since her husband passed. Both yards have under ground dog wire that my dog learned long ago.
She has always had dogs to this day, so a dog lover.
When I take him to work I pick it up 100 % of the time.

Probably hard to do there? Plenty of water to flush the grass?
My dog would hate going on rocks.
 
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All our lots are 5 acres. About 3 acres of mine is heavily wooded. I let the dog out in the morning when I get dressed. Usually by the time I'm putting my boots on she lets herself in the house. No idea where she goes, don't care. If she's not back I call my dad/neighbor. She'll open hid doors and let herself in over there. I'll beep her Garmin e collar and she high tails it back.
 
Racerx said:
All our lots are 5 acres. About 3 acres of mine is heavily wooded. I let the dog out in the morning when I get dressed. Usually by the time I'm putting my boots on she lets herself in the house. No idea where she goes, don't care. If she's not back I call my dad/neighbor. She'll open hid doors and let herself in over there. I'll beep her Garmin e collar and she high tails it back.
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Pretty sure our dog would be scared of the woods,lol especially at night. He’s 12 now and when he was 6 months old he almost got eaten by a coyote. He has never forgot, Rare for dogs.
 
I heard not cutting grass too short is supposed to help. Taller grass, stronger roots - something like that. I’m going to try it this year.
 
Gary Ward said:
Pretty sure our dog would be scared of the woods,lol especially at night. He’s 12 now and when he was 6 months old he almost got eaten by a coyote. He has never forgot, Rare for dogs.
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Let mine out one night. All she wants to do is hunt. Recall with a beep 15 min later. Her back is all dusty. Her e collar on her flank is scuffed. Wth. Starts chattering, then I see blood dripping. Saw a little on one side of her face, then her lip on the other side. Then I see she got all four corners tore up. My guess is she had a possum under the shed. Still can't turn hunt mode off. Apparently it's chipmunk season already. Got one before she did her business this morning. She would rather hunt than go potty first thing in the morning. GSP's are bonkers.

When fourth of July comes around, she's ****ed at me cuz it sounds like a gun and she's not outside hunting.
 
True story. Never thought I’d relate this to anybody outside of my immediate circle but here you go. We went for a week, long excursion on our sailboat. I’ve gotten used to rowing the dog to shore. About 2 AM I hear some footsteps on the deck above me. Then I hear what sounds like rain. Later the next day, I hear the story from my wife, who did not want to row the dog to shore at 2 AM. Apparently the dog was in some distress, and would not relieve herself on the deck. My wife demonstrated to our dog that it was OK in fact to relieve yourself on the deck at 2 AM by doing it herself. The dog quickly followed her example.
 
kaiser said:
I heard not cutting grass too short is supposed to help. Taller grass, stronger roots - something like that. I’m going to try it this year.
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Taller grass also helps keeps the weeds at bay more. My elderly neighbor pointed that out to me and she was right.
 
I think you could actually overseed the yard with clover. Less maintenance than grass and holds up better to the nitrogen burn. And us beekeepers love seeing clover. Helluva nectar source.
 
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GeorgeC said:
Maybe that dog can teach my kids how to flush.
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That dog is a Border Collie. Very intelligent and bred to follow commands well. You can teach them an amazing number of things, although using a urinal is pretty impressive.
 
Gary Ward said:
Taller grass also helps keeps the weeds at bay more. My elderly neighbor pointed that out to me and she was right.
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Also helps the tick population. The state adjacent to us is the home of Lyme disease

-Skip
 
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Skip Miller said:
Also helps the tick population. The state adjacent to us is the home of Lime disease

-Skip
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Good thing we give our dog a flea and tick treatment (a treat he eats and likes)from the vet each summer.
My wife and I just wear flea and tick collars.
 
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