If you’ve come to this page, there’s a good chance your dog is turning your once green Grass to yellow or brown in some spots.

You probably want to explore non-commercial options first, so we’ve helped you out by exploring how to stop dog Urine from killing grass naturally – essentially using home made options.

We’ve attacked this issue from three angles:

• What might make your dog’s urine more grass friendly
• How you can stop your dog from peeing on your grass altogether
• What you might put on your lawn to give it the best long term chance of staying green, and recovering from any urine burn

If you are more interested in neutralising your dog’s urine odor in the yard, you might like to give this guide a read.

Let’s check out the options!

(NOTE: this is only a general informational and educational guide. It is not professional advice.)

How To Stop Dog Urine From Killing Grass Naturally + Homemade Options

How Does Dog Urine Kill Grass and Lawn?

Before we jump into the options, it helps to know what actually kills lawn and grass.

Grass and lawn is killed the nitrogen and salts in your dog’s urine. 

When you dog pees in one spot, it overloads the grass in that area with these minerals, causing the grass to die.

It’s the same principle as fertilising grass too much – the nitrogen and salt in the fertiliser overloads the grass and it dies.

1) Water

Water might help in two ways:

• Firstly – making sure your dog is drinking enough water will ensure your dog’s urine is more diluted and overall more healthy. Diluted urine isn’t as concentrated, 
• Secondly, if you pour water on a spot your dog has peed immediately after they pee, you are diluting the urine and washing it off the surface of the grass into the soil – which might reduce the burn

If you want to know how much water your dog should be drinking, your vet is the best person to ask.

2) Monitor Protein In Dog’s Diet

Making sure your dog is eating a balanced diet (balanced nutrients and minerals) can help in minimising grass burn.

Something in particular to pay attention to is how much protein your dog is eating.

Protein when broken down in the body turns into nitrogen compounds. That excess nitrogen is excreted in the urine.

So, a dog on a high protein diet might have urine that is more concentrated in nitrogen and salts that is more likely to burn grass.

If your dog is on a higher protein diet, it might be worth speaking to your vet to see if altering the diet will help in lowering the nitrogen and salt levels in their urine, and in turn help the health of your grass.

3) Baking Soda

Baking soda is commonly used inside the house on carpets to neutralise urine odors, as it is a sodium bicarbonate, a salt, that can dry out the urine spot.

However, pouring baking soda on the urine on grass neutralises neither nitrogen nor salts in the urine.

In addition, baking soda can create phytotoxic conditions (conditions that injure the grass) for lawn and grass due to it’s alkaline and salty nature.

Pouring water on the urine is a better option.

4) Tomato Juice

There is a gardener’s myth that adding tomato juice to a dog’s food alters the pH level of a dog’s urine and makes it less acidic, or even balances the nitrogen levels in the urine.

Firstly, the pH level of the urine does not cause grass burn. Secondly, there is no evidence tomato juice alters nitrogen levels in urine.

Because there is no solid or consistent scientific evidence tomato juice alters pH or balances nitrogen levels, tomato juice is probably not a solid option to stop dog urine killing grass naturally.

5) Apple Cider Vinegar

Similar to tomato juice, there’s a myth ACV added to a dog’s water (diluted) makes dog urine less acidic and alters nitrogens levels.

Also similar to tomato juice, there’s very little solid or consistent scientific evidence to support this – at least that we could find.

If you are thinking about feeding tomato juice or apple cider vinegar to your dog, speak to a vet first.

6) Look At Natural Prevention Options – How To Stop Your Dog Peeing On The Grass

This one makes a lot of sense.

Why bother trying to stop urine from burning your grass when the urine is already on the grass?

A better approach might be to stop or prevent your dog from peeing or pooping on your lawn in the first place.

We wrote a guide on how to stop from peeing or pooping on your lawn, discussing things like:

• Using citronella spray to deter your dog
• Using disposable grass patches
• Installing pet sprinkler repellent systems
• Using an ultra sonic repellant
• + more

If you use this approach, make sure your dog has somewhere else soft and comfortable to do their business.

7) Look At Natural Fertilisers, Dolomite Lime, Soil Amendments For Microbes, or Urine Resistant 

These options won’t save your grass immediately once urine is on it. But, they can make good long term strategies to combatting urine.

In a guide we wrote on potential ways to neutralize dog urine on grass, repair grass and prevent lawn burn, we mention:

• Natural fertilisers contain more organic ingredients than commercial fertilisers, and minerals to support grass growth (be careful of too much nitrogen from both urine and fertiliser though)
• Dolomite lime – doesn’t assist the lawn directly, but adds calcium and magnesium to the grass soil to potentially make acidic or sour soil more neutral and better for lawn growth
• Soil Amendments – can increase the population of beneficial microbes in the soil, so it can more efficiently break down the salt and metabolize the excess nitrogen in dog urine
• Urine Resistant Grass – Grasses like Fescues and perennial rye grasses are said to take longer to be damaged by urine, and will grow more quickly and recover quicker when damaged

8) Make Sure Your Lawn Doesn’t Have Bad Health Or Diseases

Your lawn turning brown or yellow might have nothing to do with dog urine at all.

Grass dying can be related to excessive fertilization, irrigation water being high in salinity, or dense clay soil for example.

It may be worth getting a landscaper or gardening expert in if you suspect your soil, lawn, plants or water drainage may be experiencing issues.

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