Is there a grass seed for dogs & How to stop brown wee patches on lawn

Everyone who has a pet wants them to thoroughly enjoy the whole space, but maintaining both a dog and a lawn can be a bit of a challenge. The biggest threat to your grass is the dog peeing on it. That’s because their pee contains nitrogen. so, when a lawn is given too much nitrogen, it turns it brown.

Luckily there are a few things you can do to help the lawn, help your dog and create yourself a lush thick, green lawn.

That’s why I’ve written this article. I’ll share some ideas on what you can do to both prevent the brown patches and steps you can take to fix them if they’re already there.

How do you stop your dog weeing on the grass?

A great way to help your grass is by preventing the dog peeing on the lawn in the first place.

So, here are those ideas I promised you.

Train them from a young age

There are many ways to train a dog, but training early can make things soo much easier when they are older.

I frequently hear people saying their pup is past training and I’m sure we all know the saying:

“You can’t teach an old dog new tricks”

Anyway, if you’re interested and your pup is still ‘trainable’ Have a read of this article from the Spruce – How to Train Your Dog to Go Potty in One Spot

Reduce the size of your lawn

Of course, this will depend on the size of your garden and there are definitely things you can do to share the lawn with your pets. Then again, if you feel you’re putting loads of work into making your lawn ‘nicely kept’ for your pet to pee on it over again, then it may be a good decision to reduce the size of your lawn or section off the ‘nicely kept’ part

Get a ‘pee-post’ at the side of the grass

A ‘pee post’ can help your pup pee in the same place every time. That way you can avoid them peeing on the lawn. Simply place a pole in the ground where you want him or her to pee and try to train your pup to do so every time.

How to reduce the impact of dog wee killing the lawn

Water the pee down to dilute the nitrogen immediately afterwards (dog wee nuetraliser)

This is one of the best ways to minimise damage after the pee has been released, but it needs to be done immediately. That’s fine if you’re there when your pup ‘spends a penny’ because you can literally water over it.

The water will help to reduce the concentration of nitrogen on the grass and therefore prevent it being scorched.

Bear in mind that this isn’t 100% fool proof as it will depend just how much nitrogen is in the pee.

Use a hard wearing grass seed

It’s not guaranteed that any grass seed will stop brown patches after your pet has wee’d on the lawn. However, by choosing a seed that has been formulated to withstand more wear and tear your green grass is likely to be less affected. Especially if you action the tasks suggested above.

Give your dog a bit more water or less protein (another dog wee neutraliser)

**Disclaimer: If unsure, always seek professional advice before changing the diet of any pet.

Funnily enough, the levels of nitrogen in your pup’s pee can be dependent on what they eat and drink.

Now, I’m not suggesting that you drastically change their diet just so you can have a nice lawn but you could try to provide a bit more water, which has been suggested to help to dilute the pee before it comes out.

The PDSA suggest that the more hydrated your dog is, the more watered down their pee will be naturally.

Alternatively, you could offer your dog foods with less protein as suggested in this article. It seems that foods with less protein translate into less nitrogen in the wee.

Note: I’m not a scientist, or a dog expert, so be sure to research this fully before making any decisions.

How to get rid of dog wee patches on grass

If you’re at the point of no return. Basically you’ll want to take a few steps to get your brown patches looking their best again. If you think the brown patches are going to ‘reappear’ after all your hard work, then there’s always the option to reduce the size of your lawn or create sections.

1. Dig it out or rake out the dead grass

The first step to fixing this problem is to rake out as much dead grass as possible. You can dig downwards if you really want to start again but it should be enough to just rake and clear the brown grass.

2. Top up the patch with top soil or compost

A good quality top soil or peat free compost will give your new seed (when you sow it) a much higher chance of geriminating into a lovely new lawn.

What’s more, after raking , you will probably have some uneven patches as opposed to just brown patches, So, make sure you level all the patches off with a rake and make sure they are the same level as hte rest of the lawn.

If you feel the need to level the rest of the lawn, then feel free to do that now too.

The application rate for over filling with top soil or compost is approximately 2KG per metre squared for soil conditioning or 4KG per metre squared for full on levelling.

When I over fill with compost, I like to do 2kg per m2 in the Spring, then another 2KG per metre squared on the Autumn. That way, it spreads out the work and I get to let the stuff settle so I can find the biggest problems.

3. Apply pre seed/ pre turf fertiliser

This is one step that some people don’t realise you need to do. One thing to note about pre seed fertiliser is that it has similar macro-nutrient levels to Autumn feed. So, if you’re fixing your lawn in the Autumn and applying a pre seed or pre turf fertiliser, you don’t need to apply an Autumn lawn feed as well.

3. Overseed the patch or use a patch filler

Now it’s time to choose your grass seed. Maybe you know which seed you used in the first lawn and can find one to match. If you don’t know what type of grass you have – DON’T WORRY. Choose a grass seed that suits your needs. You can buy grass seed right on our website and we have seed for all the purpose. So whether you want a fine 100% fescue or a seed that thrives in shade, or as mentioned before a hard wearing seed for cats and dogs.

4. Stop the birds eating the seed

My go to method is to drape some old CDs across the lawn on some strings. I do 2 rows of 5 CDs on an 80m2 lawn so that gives you an idea of how many you might need depending on your lawn size.

A Final Thought

I hope that gives you some food for thought about how you can have a fine lawn and also let your pets have th freedom of the garden. After all, that’s how they will live a fulfilled and happy life.

If you feel you need to give your pets a section and have a little section for your lawn, try not to be too stingy on the size of your pets part. I’m sure they will love to expend their energy running around every part of your garden.

Anyway, if you need to fix your patches, the time is now. Drop me an email if you have any questions that are specific to your lawn. I’m always happy o help.