Lawn Green Lawn Care and Dog Rocks (Urine)

Lawn Green supports Dog Rocks as the bullet proof way of putting an end to those awful burnt patches in your lawn caused by your pet dog’s urine.

DOG ROCKS! Prevent urine burn patches in your lawn.

Dog Rocks are an all Australian natural product that are safe for all of your pets, young and old. Dog Rocks will start improving your lawn within 5 weeks.

Dog Rocks need to be replaced every 2 months and should be placed into no more than 2 litres (0.5 gal) of water.

Dog Rocks are a mineralised rock which when placed in a dog’s water bowl changes the Nitrogen levels of a dog’s urine, meaning it won’t stain grass. The key element in Dog Rocks is Zeolite, which neutralises Nitrogen levels without altering the pH level of the water. This is important as a change in pH level can affect a dog’s health. Dog Rocks have been extensively tested on a variety of puppies and mature dogs, and the product has proven to be safe and effective every time.

A DogRocks Interview with Andrea Roberts (Owner/Director of Dog Rocks) by Dogs Life Magazine regarding Dog Urine Burn on Grass.

1. Why does dog urine burn grass?

Dog urine contains a variety of nitrogen compounds. Too much nitrogen will burn the grass and create yellow patches, but appropriate concentrations of nitrogen can actually be beneficial to the lawn, which is why you’ll often see rings of thick green grass around the yellow patches. This makes sense, since the main ingredient in lawn fertilizer is nitrogen.

2. Is there any difference between the sexes/breeds in terms of damage?

Some people believe females cause more damage to grass than males. This is only because male dogs are sometimes known to cock their leg around the edges of the garden… most male dogs only do this when they are marking their territory, not when they are at home. At home they will usually squat just as females do.

3. What was the inspiration behind developing Dog Rocks?

We had just picked up our new puppy who was slowly leaving his mark behind all over our back lawn. My husband is an avid gardener and did not like what was happening.

I had heard about putting bicarbonate of soda in dog food to stop the urine burns but I did not feel it was safe enough for my puppy as it changes the p/H balance of urine which can cause bladder stones. Then a friend told me about this rock and how it stopped the burn patches from appearing on grass. After 6 months of phone calls to various quarries in Australia and lots of surfing the web, I found the right one. The locals from around the quarry had been using the rock on their own dogs for years with great results. I did the same and found it worked really well. I handed out samples to friends and ran tests for the next 3 years. The grass looked great and there were no side effects for the dogs.

4. What is it about the Dog Rock which prevents urine burn from dogs?

The rock itself contains zeolite traces. Zeolite filters out ammonia and nitrates from water. Zeolite is often used in aquariums to filter out ammonia and nitrates from the water. By slightly lowering the nitrate level from the water it means the dog is taking in less nitrogen and less is coming out the other end, therefore stopping the burn marks. It is only a slight change but enough in most cases to work.

5. Is there any link with particular grasses being worst off?

Yes some very fine grasss such as ………. Can be very sensitive and no matter what you do they will still burn. Most turf companies are now using tougher grasses such as…….

6. What is it in the dog urine which makes the grass burn?

The main factor is the overload of Nitrates in dog urine. If your dog has a diet which is high in protein this will increase nitrogen concentration in their urine since protein breaks down to release nitrogen compounds. Dog Rocks take the small amount of nitrates in water away so this lowers the nitrate level only slightly but it is enough for it to be effective. Unfortunately Dog Rocks will not work if a dog is on a very high protein diet such as raw meat. I recommend Hills Science Diet as a staple diet.

7. What can people do to reduce this happening (do you advise anything else besides the use of dog rocks)?

Really the only alternative is to treat the lawn directly by watering frequently after your dog has urinated…unfortunately this becomes an issue in Australia as we have water restrictions in place and also it is not a very convenient alternative .

8. Any interesting facts you discovered during your trials for Dog Rocks?

Yes I was amazed by how many people believed that the burn problem was caused by the p/h balance of urine…not true. By raising or lowering the acid of the urine will have little or no effect on the urine damage to the lawn. Many people thought that by changing the p/h balance of urine it would stop the burning, but in actual fact it is very dangerous for the p/h balance to be tampered with as side effects such as crystals forming in bladder or kidneys can occur. Dog Rocks do not change the p/h balance of water or urine.

9. Do you think that urine burn problems can also be linked to diets low in Ascorbic Acid or too much nitrogen?

Yes most definitely. Many dog foods on the market actually have much more protein than a dog requires. This in turn will increase nitrogen concentration in the urine. The addition of nutritional supplements like Methioform, Ascorbic Acid(vitamin C), or fruit juices will have no benefit for this problem and may predispose the dog to an increased incidence of certain bladder stones. Likewise, alkalinizing agents, including baking soda and potassium citrate can predispose to other types of Bladder stones or infections and will have no known benefit for the lawn.

10. Anything else you would like to add about Dog Rocks and urine burn?

Dog Rocks are an easy safe way to keep your lawn looking green and healthy. You don’t have to think about replacing Dog Rocks for 2 months. As long as your Dog has no other water source such as a pool or pond, they should work really well. By adding Dog Rocks to your dogs water bowl you can have a dog without compromising your garden and how it looks.