spots on the lawn

[katie's mom]

I've heard that there are additives that one can put in one's dog's water that will prevent those brown dry spots in the lawn that comes from their urine.  Does anyone have experience with them?  What's in them?  Are they safe for the dog?  Especially one with Cushings?  Thanks!

[Whytepine]

You're better off treating the lawn than treating the dog!  There are products to help with the brown spots but even using regular garden lime sprinkled on the spots and then hose it in good will help.

I wouldn't want to add something to the dog and possibly throw off the ph balance of the urine.  Just not worth it.

[Sendiulino]

One product in particular that matches your description is called Dog Rocks. The product claims the following:

Dog Rocks® filter out impurities from water such as Tin, ammonia and nitrates. These impurities are usually passed out through urine, and when your grass comes in contact with these elements it is burned, resulting in a dead, yellow patch on your lawn.

That's a cute claim, but the fact is, there are chemical components to a dog's urine that result from the metabolism of protein and nothing more (filtering them out is an absurd claim). No water additive is going to eliminate that entirely, and if it does some how "adjust" the chemical composition of the urine, what in the world might that be doing to the kidneys/etc. in the process? The only way to "adjust" it would be to put something into the dog's body to make that happen, and that's a huge risk in my opinion. Be wary of anything labeled "all natural" because there are lots of "all natural" things in this world that can kill us or our dogs very easily.

Just too risky. Some people claim it works, but I think their website sounds like a load of hogwash and I wouldn't want to risk tinkering with mother nature like that.

Better to treat the lawn. One of the best things that can be done is to keep a full watering can on hand, or a hose. Just water down the area the dog urinates on to dilute the urine. This alone can help tremendously. Otherwise, there are lots of lawn products out there to treat the problem.

[Eskielove24]

My dog goes to the bathroom in my yard when we let her out on a long leash, but the grass here never change color. I wonder why....... Is it because that New Jersey's water's clean?

I would let the grass be because there might be something in the water that your dog is drinking that could be doing this to your grass.....If not, then just let the grass recover itself.