How should I (inexpensively) treat my lawn this Spring to compensate
for the fact that my two dogs have done their business there all
winter?  I guess I want to make sure I neutralize the acid or
whatever.

Hi sethh,

Thank you for your question.


brown spots on grass from dog urine.....
http://boards.hgtv.com/eve/ubb.x/a/tpc/f/599109661/m/4941021202

"Yes, I also checked the gardening board and they recommended Gypsum.
I will try that."


"Have the same problem: This weekend, my dh clipped out the yellow
grass, put in top soil, then a good quality (14 day germination) grass
seed, covered the seed with this green stuff that has fertilizer in it
so the birds won't eat the grass seed. I am watering twice a day (Zone
5) I posted about this myself- some of the answers I received said to
sprinkle lime or gypsum on the spots, then water, others said to give
the dog tomato juice mixed in food, many said to water the spots
heavily as soon as dog goes- and finally, if you have dark green spots
of lawn, that is also from the dog pee, and that is because the urine
has so much nitrogen in it... nitrogen is a good thing-, but not in
spots from pee. Hope this helps. Will post and let you know if what WE
did helped. Also, suggestion was made to not allow dog on grass at
all, to make an area out of mulch or gravel that you can train the dog
to use. Note; I did buy one of those sprays that you are suppose to
spray on the spots where the dog went- THAT is the grass that turned
yellow & died. The pills, etc. you can give a dog- My Vet said no way,
can cause liver/kidney damage to the dog. Good luck!"


"... have 2 huge dogs and on the yellow spots, I just sprinkle brown
sugar and wet it down with a little water - works great. The brown
sugar attracts the worms, which arriate the soil, and the grass
returns. I have been doing this for many years, and have a plush green
lawn. I also have an area in the far back with pebble stones the dog
will use, but not all the time."

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More at Gardenweb.com
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tips/msg1123515119144.html

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Please read my answer at:
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=378219

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Best regards,
tlspiegel

You may want to post this in the chemistry area too.

One of the many millions I will not make will be a squirter containing
a chemical to safely neutralize the uric acid in dog pee.

I didn't look at those references but did a pretty thorough search a
while back. Girls ruin more lawns, because they tend to drop a lot of
urine in one area, unlike boy dogs. The rings of green when one dumps
a bunch of water on the spot are because diluted urea is an excellent
fertilizer.

Having a strong miracle-grow or otherwise-fed lawn helps.

Aquarium charcoal at $10 a carton from the Petco aquarium shelf might
be more hassle than you want, or need to take though I think it will
work. Again, this is probably one for the google chemical guys. I
wouldn't be surprised if there is a simple compound that will work.