Lawn burn from dog urine - HELP !

[Aaron-IN]

I had the same problem with my lab, until I switched foods then it went away. She is on "Ocean Fusion" from Earthborn, no burn spots in two years since we switched foods.

[Crunchy]

I have a great dane. I am redoing the back yard....deck, fence, the whole works. We used to keep her on a chain at the back door...so the damage is contained in that radius...but now with a fence, we want to confine the damage to one area and not have to have her on a chain the whole time.

And its a great dane, so each time she pees, its a huge puddle, and the spot is over a foot wide with one wee.

I have a corner in mind....I plan on making it her spot. Maybe 6' x 6'. I would like to fill it with gravel....is this a good idea?

Any tips on training a stubborn, thick headed great dane on how to do her business in one spot?

One thing....she is not motivated by food what-so-ever! Give her a treat and she often ignores it for hours. Its dinner time, we fill her bowl, and she won't eat until midnight.

[sean_steiner]

Originally Posted by Gull Lake Guy

My 17 month old male Golden Retreiver is the greatest thing since Mertens' Power Tiller Steering, except for the urine burn in the yard. I replaced 33 rolls of sod this spring prior to a big get together, and while our efforts to pour water on the spots immediately after he goes have helped, we still miss from time to time. I know there are pills available thru Foster and Smith, but I am not sure if they work, and am concerned about long term effects. A neighbors friend said that about 10 years ago he was given something by a vet at the University of Minnesota that was a liquid, and he simply put a couple of drops in the dogs water. Lawn burn stopped almost immediately, and after a year, he no longer needed to treat the water. We have noticed that we had no lawn burn at our place up north, but we do not fertilize that yard, and I know that makes a huge difference. Any advice would be appreciated. THANKS

I assume this is a male, since you said he. As someone who works with dogs at the local shelter as well as through training and dog behavior, This can be an easy problem to remedy.

If you have any trees, you can get him to mark those easily, and they wont be hurt. If you don't have any, you could try some bushes that you don't particularly care about. If all else fails, take him away from the lawn to pee each time. It won't take long for him to form a habit and routine of not peeing on the lawn anymore. Give him a piece of kibble each time he pees in an area you want him to. How far north is the place where you don't have this problem? It could be an area that has more acidic soil and therefor more hardy grass.

[eriksat1]

I have been through this and read every fix on the internet. The only one that works to fix the lawn is dig up the spots, put in fresh black dirt and re-plant grass seed.

[PackerBacker]

Train your dog to pee in a different spot that is not on the lawn.

[lacywbosu]

Originally Posted by Crunchy

I have a great dane. I am redoing the back yard....deck, fence, the whole works. We used to keep her on a chain at the back door...so the damage is contained in that radius...but now with a fence, we want to confine the damage to one area and not have to have her on a chain the whole time.

And its a great dane, so each time she pees, its a huge puddle, and the spot is over a foot wide with one wee.

I have a corner in mind....I plan on making it her spot. Maybe 6' x 6'. I would like to fill it with gravel....is this a good idea?

Any tips on training a stubborn, thick headed great dane on how to do her business in one spot?

One thing....she is not motivated by food what-so-ever! Give her a treat and she often ignores it for hours. Its dinner time, we fill her bowl, and she won't eat until midnight.

Put fox urine or some other urine, your own, and the dog will want to cover it up. Repeat several times, then this becomes the area he will check first and pee on.