Bitch

[Spotty Muldoon]

Hello, I have recently laid a new lawn, mainly rye grass because I heard it was hard wearing. I have 2 dogs. One of them is a bitch. Well, within weeks there were dead patches all over the lawn from the ammonia in the bitch's wee. With the wet weather, I thought the ammonia would be washed away. But no. The patches have gone all soggy and slimy. Both dogs are now digging it up and eating it. Nice. I was going to re-seed in the early autumn, but I was wondering if there was a better type of hard-wearing grass that is more resistant to ammonia. Any ideas?

[Grassman]

Unfortunately it seems you already have ryegrass in your lawn which is the species most resistant to dog pee.
There are products on the international market such as Lawn Guard  (http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=11874) although I'm not sure they are available in or to the UK.
There is also an Australia product which you simply add to your dogs drinking water that has the same effect of neutralising the harmful amonia. I can't remember it's name just now and I'm struggling to find any further information on line. The gentlemen who told me about it works locally to me and when I see him next I will ask what the product is called.

[Spotty Muldoon]

Thanks Grass man. Plan B was to try to train the dog to use a sand pit or something.

[Grassman]

Would you believe I was surfing the net for a completely unrelated item this morning when I found this Dog Rocks (http://www.dogrocks.co.uk/buynow.htm)
I have no idea how effective they are.

[Spotty Muldoon]

Do you know, I saw these myself at the pet shop on Friday. I have asked my doggie friends on another forum if they work.

[Spotty Muldoon]

It's not the bitch after all, it's the breed. Dalmatians have a higher than usual concentration of uric acid in their pee. Nothing to be done about it, so I'll just set to patching and reseeding every year. Is there a particular rye grass you would recommend? There are about 3 patches of about 1sqm each that need doing and a smattering of small bits and pieces. I have no idea how much seed I would need. Thanks