How to prevent yellow patches on your lawn

When you have a beautiful green lawn that has managed to survive some of Australia’s warmest weather in years, there is nothing more annoying that watching it develop yellow patches from your dog’s urine.

So why does this happen? 

Dog urine contains a variety of nitrogen compounds and too much nitrogen will burn the grass and create yellow patches.  Yet, appropriate concentrations of nitrogen can actually be beneficial to the lawn!! In fact,  the main ingredient in lawn fertilizer is nitrogen and which is why you’ll often see rings of thick dark green grass develop around the yellow patches.   It’s all about getting the right levels of nitrogen on your lawn, rather than large amounts in one concentrated spot.

The concentration of nitrogen in the dog’s urine depends on the type of dog, its sex and what the animal eats. Larger dogs will pee more and cause more damage. Female dogs also tend to cause more damage than males because they squat and urinate in one concentrated patch whereas the males spray their urine over a larger area.  High protein raw diets can also create higher levels of nitrogen.

So what can you do about preventing these burnt yellow patches without having to keep your dog off your lawn?

How Dog Rocks® can help

Dog Rocks® are a 100% natural Australian product that will save your lawn from those nasty yellow patches by filtering out impurities from water such as tin, ammonia and nitrates, which would otherwise be passed out through the urine on to your lawn.

Made from a natural type of rock, they don’t actually change the pH balance of a dog’s urine, they simply filter out the nasties that will not only help prevent these yellow patches, but will also provide your dog with a cleaner source of water.

Dog Rocks® are available in different sized packs and also with large and small sized rocks, depending on the size of your pooch.    They’re really simple to use as well…you simply rinse the rocks and place the appropriate amount recommended on the pack into your dog’s water bowl.

You do just need to be mindful about any other water sources your pooch might be drinking from to help ensure they  are truly effective.

Dog Rocks® are available from leading pet shops including PETstock, and further information about the product and how it works can be found on theDog Rocks® website.

About the Author: Lara Shannon is co-Host of Pooches at Play and has completed a Certificate III in Dog Behaviour & Training with the National Dog Trainers Federation. Lara also runs her own dog training, minding and walking business in Melbourne’s Bayside area.