Is it possible to have a nice lawn AND a dog?

puddy

not sure if Im asking this in the right section but the greenfingered section seems more about growing veg, so im asking here...

we have just moved into a house, my first garden.... but my partner has a dog and the lawn is now patchy, how do you keep a nice lawn with a dog, or is it not possible? my mum and dad have 'green thumb' come and do their lawn, although they dont have a dog, our lawn is fairly small so i dont want to lose it all together,,, what do others do?

TomsMom

Is it a dog or a !!!!!? My f-i-l had a !!!!! and he had it down to a "T". He would go out into the garden with the dog, watering can in hand, say "puddle" and as soon as she'd puddled he would water the spot on the lawn copiously! There were still a few burn marks but much less than ignoring the puddles altogether.

Some people manage to keep a corner of the garden solely for use as a dog toilet and train their dogs to go only there, I suppose it could be shielded or fenced off so you wouldn't see it.

ETA: Oooh, I got blanked out, it should be the word for a lady dog!

SplanK

IIRC its usualy when people let the dogs take a pee on the grass the kills it

so avoid letting the dog do its business on the grass and it should stay green!

manda1205

In girl dogs their wee has more acid in it, so kills the grass, you can get rocks to go in their drinking water to neutralise their wee and so stop the patches. They sell them on ebay, my friend swears by them. We have a pup at the mo and so far shes not damaing our lawn, although I expect her too. Although our gardens pretty big and uneven so Im not too worried as yet.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/3-X-DOG-ROCKS-urine-burn-prevention-on-lawns-turf_W0QQitemZ190326975352QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Pet_Supplies_Dogs?hash=item2c505f2b78&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14
As you can see form the link, they're quite expensive, spose its up to you if that expense is worth your lawn???

puddy

mm, thanks very interesting, no he is a boy doggie and there is unfortunately little mileage in us trying to prevent him weeing in particular bits of the garden, i will try the pets at home product and try to water the grass where the patches are a bit then.

andy - i have joined briar house vets, near the broadway, we have 2 cats too (although they use litter trays)

puddy

yes, i was in a quandry at choosing a vet, my older cat has diabetes and phoned a couple, briar house has lots of diabetes nurses.

she wouldnt get insurance but you're talking about a payment plan for the actual vet arent you? i will check if briar house do that too, her insulin costs the earth and she was very ill after we moved, still is as well they may change her insulin but that takes days in the hospital so costs a bomb. unfortunately theres no parking at briar house, something which is v difficult, has the thanet hosptial got a car park? i also need to get their vacinations and things up to date

catwoman

I give my female dog Green-um tablets and they stop her wee burning our grass, you can also use ketchup! a spoonful a day in their food works.

DVardysShadow

TomsMom wrote: »

ETA: Oooh, I got blanked out, it should be the word for a lady dog!

Bitch you mean? That is the problem with swear filters. Swearing is offensive or not according to context.

puddy

yes, ive been reviewing the reviews for the dog rocks and most seem to be saying that they dont work, however, apparently tomato based products or tomatoes do work, so i might try the tomato sauce

Errata

Greenums work for bloke dogs but they can only be given for 3 months and then there has to be a break of several months before the next 3 month course can be given. A spoonful of tomato ketchup in their main daily meal works for lady dogs but not bloke dogs because the hormones are different.
I tried Greenums on my lad and it worked, but back to piebald grass when he was having a break from them. I tried dog rocks and they didn't work. My solution was to have more and bigger flower beds and replace the lawn that was left with pea gravel. Of course since I did that the wretch has decided to only pee up against a large planter. grrrrrrrr.

mandragora_2

The answer is 'nope' Even once you've dealt with the wee - female or male -there's the pooh to contend with. Be honest and just accept the truth. You've started a 14 year battle that you're never going to win...