How to Stop Dog From Damaging Your Grass

Sharing your outdoor space with your dog is both a joy and a challenge. Watching your canine companion run around the yard, chase after toys, or simply enjoy the open space is undoubtedly fun. However, it can also be a bit of a disaster. From digging and trampling to leaving unsightly brown or yellow patches from urine, your dog's activities can easily leave your lawn lacking. All your efforts to maintain a dense, green lawn go down the drain when faced with the aftermath of your dog's rough play.

3 Steps to Keep Your Lawn Green and Protect it From Damage

Like with many things, prevention is key to keeping a healthy, green lawn. It starts with selecting a traffic-tolerant grass that can withstand your dog's rowdy playtime. Enclosing a designated spot for play and potty can also help confine the damage on your lawn. Alternatively, consider using a grass pad for dogs as a bathroom alternative to protect your lawn from digging and urine damage.

Now, let's explore further these steps in preventing dog damage and maintaining a healthy lawn.

Use Dog-Friendly Grass

There are a few factors to consider when selecting the best grass for dogs: high traffic tolerance, rapid growth, and fast wear recovery. Bermuda grass excels in all these categories, making it a hard-wearing grass that can endure your dog's vigorous play.

Whether repairing an already damaged lawn or starting a new one, Bermuda grass plugs provide an excellent alternative to traditional seeding methods. They guarantee faster establishment, allowing you to enjoy a dense lawn in a shorter period. Overall, its durability, resilience, and robust growth make Bermuda grass an ideal option for maintaining a dog-friendly lawn.

Designate a Play Area

When your dog has a penchant for digging, you have at least two options to address this behavior: interrupting and redirecting it or providing a specific digging area within your lawn. Every time you catch your dog in the act, interrupt them and guide their attention to a more acceptable activity. This highlights the value of supervising your dog's playtime, allowing you to interrupt this behavior and protect your lawn from damage promptly.

Alternatively, you can fence off a protected area and designate a digging space to satisfy their natural urge without compromising the rest of your lawn. You can make their digging more fun by burying toys or treats for them to discover. Meanwhile, if you want to keep the digging completely off your lawn, you can set up a sandbox for this activity instead.

Set up a Bathroom Alternative

Dog urine has a high nitrogen content that can significantly damage your lawn. While nitrogen is an essential component in fertilizers, the concentration in dog pees can over-fertilize your grass, leading to dead grass or unsightly dog pee spots where your dog frequently urinate. Contrary to common belief, this issue is equally common in male and female dogs.

You can prevent dog pee damage by hosing down the pee spot to dilute and wash the urine away from your lawn. However, following your dog with a hose during every bathroom break is not always feasible. A more practical solution is to set up a grass pee pad to protect your grass from damage. Gotta Go Grass® is particularly effective as it uses Bermuda grass—a dog-friendly and urine-resistant grass. Moreover, because it is living grass, it makes the transition easier for your dog. Set it up indoors or outdoors, wherever is convenient for you and your dog. Read more about how Gotta Go Grass® works.

Preventing Yard Damage by Redirecting Your Dog's Energy

Preventative measures, such as planting pet-friendly grass, designating a play area, and setting up a grass pee pad, can help you maintain a healthy, green lawn while accommodating your furry friend. Overall, these culminate in a long-term fix that involves redirecting your dog's energy and providing appropriate outlets for play and potty.

It's key to remember that your lawn is not a dog sitter and cannot substitute for good, quality playtime or walks. Your dog needs physical and mental stimulation, which should include plenty of interaction with you. By spending good, quality time with your pet, not only can you help keep your lawn in pristine condition but also address their potential destructive behavior, thus supporting their overall well-being.

Repair Dog Urine Damage in Your Lawn with SodPods®

An equally essential step in preventing dog damage is proper lawn maintenance and taking extra precautions in areas that are subject to more wear and tear. Plant grass plugs in areas your dog frequently damages, and fertilize them using NutriPod® to provide the necessary nutrients for healthy development. NutriPod® can accelerate growth up to two times faster, filling in damaged areas in a shorter period. Additionally, water your lawn adequately to keep it healthy and aerate around these high-traffic areas 1-2 times a year. Aerating will help relieve soil compaction, which can create further issues in the long term.

Dogs and lawns don't always go together as harmoniously as you might imagine. However, following these tips can help protect your lawn from damage without sacrificing quality playtime with your dog.

For a wide selection of grass plugs and other grass-plugging essentials, visit the SodPods website today!

Dogs and lawns don't always go together as you might imagine. But these tips can help protect your lawn from damage without sacrificing quality playtime with your dog.