As pet owners, keeping your lawn green, clean and free of unpleasant smells, is a constant battle. With over 15 years in the pet waste management experience, DoodyCalls understands that the struggle is real; that’s why we would like to share with you helpful information from the lawn care experts.
Consulting with both Dr. Steve Thompson, from Purdue University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, as well as our own Founder, Jacob’ Daniello; Lisa Granshaw provides helpful tips to the readers of VetStreet on how to “Prevent Pet Waste from Killing Your Lawn.” To avoid “urine burn,” the brown spots that are caused from the presence of nitrogen in pet waste, Lisa recommends adding water to both your pet’s food to dilute the presence of nitrogen, as well as spraying down your yard in trouble spots. Lisa also suggests that all dog poop be scooped promptly, as the longer it is left to sit, the worse the problem area becomes. Additionally, she suggests that it’s not a good idea to try and correct the problem with fertilizer as too much fertilizer in one spot, or combined with pet waste, will further increase the presence of brown spots.
The experts at Lawn Care Academy explain why lawn damage occurs, as well as offer strategies on how to both lessen the brown spots. For those areas already displaying damage, they suggest you re-seed or lay sod, remaining cognizant of which grasses you choose. To prevent future damage, they recommend you carefully choose the right pet food for your dog, noting that with high quality foods, more nutrients are absorbed into your dog and not filtered through their waste and onto your lawn. They also reinforce the need to keep both your dog and lawn hydrated.
Offering as part of our services, DoodyCalls is no stranger to the damage pet waste can do to your lawn. Combining our own expert pet waste management experience with information from experts in the lawn care field, we recommend you take the following actions.
- Stay Hydrated – Keeping both your dog and your lawn hydrated is an important step to stopping lawn damage that’s caused by the concentrated addition of nitrogen and other nutrients found in dog waste.
- Think Before You Act –Don’t rush to pile on fertilizer at the first sight of a problem, instead, research which types of grass seed and sod will work best in your yard, as well as what tools are out there to help train your dogs to avoid the freshly treated areas.
- Scoop the Poop – Whether you do it yourself, or you hire an expert to tackle the dirty job, scooping the poop weekly, if not daily, is the best way to prevent pet waste from causing lawn damage.
We know that as proud dog and homeowners, you want to keep both your pets and lawn healthy. Put into action the above steps to eliminate current yard burn caused by pets, as well as to prevent any further damage.