turf vs. natural lawn urine smell?

[Kara Haines]

Hi all,

I am new to this online forum.  I have also joined the labradoodle forum. We rescued a F1 labradoodle from the Nevada SPCA about 5 months ago.  He is about 1.6 months old.  His name is Sherlock and we are crazy about him!  We weren't looking for another dog, but he found us!  He was turned in because he sheeds.  Their loss our gain!

We now have three dogs.  One lab, one lab mix and Sherlock.(all rescues)   As you can imagine we have a lot of cleanup in our backyard.  We currently have rocks in our yard.  We would love to try and eliminate some of the urine odor in the backyard.  We are pretty diligent about poop scooping and spraying the urine areas with water.  We were wondering if we should put sod in our backyard or invest in a synthetic lawn. I was thinking that having a lawn with sprinklers would keep it wet and possibly drain some of the smell.  I have also heard that there are synthetic lawns made specificially for dogs.   I understand that having three dogs we will always have some smell, but would like to keep it bearable.  I have also done some research and synthetic lawns are quite pricey. 

Does anyone have any advice or suggestions? 

PS - a few of my friends recommended Nature's Miracle. 

Thanks in advance.  Sherlock's mom

 

 

 

 

 

 

[F, Calla & Luca]

I never notice any smell from my two dogs urine but I have a large yard. We do get the brown spots though. We have discussed all this and you can search the discussion in the garden group for brown spots, artificial turf, lawns etc. Welcome to DK.

[Kara Haines]

Thank you.  Unfortunately our yard is not that large.  I will look for the discussion in the garden group. 

I look forward to future discussions on DK. 

[Gail and Bailey]

I know of a canine boarding and daycare business that has all rocks in their outdoor areas and it is kept so clean that there is never any urine odor (and there are many dogs there!)  I have taken a tour of the facility and I know that they use some type of cleaner and a powerful hose and wash the areas several times daily.  It is the cleanest place I have ever been through both indoors and outdoors.  There is absolutely no dog odor (seriously).  I will call them tomorrow and ask what their secret to cleaning the rocks is. I will let you know what they tell me. I do know that it is much easier to sanitize the rocks that it would be to sanitize grass areas.  I noticed that you are in Nevada....wouldn't it be hard to keep grass in that hot dry climate...especially with dogs in the yard?   Welcome to Doodle Kisses!

[Kara Haines]

Hi there,

Thank you.  That sounds great!!!  Yes, it is very difficult to keep a nice lawn in Las Vegas.  We had grass for years and decided to switch over.  My husband hates the rocks and either wants to switch back to grass or a synthetic lawn.  I just want to spend more time in the early evenings outside and don't want to smell pee. 

 

Thanks again and I look forward to your reply.  :_) 

[Gail and Bailey]

Here is the web site for the product.  http://www.wysiwash.com/

[Kara Haines]

Thank you.  I appreciate you looking into that.  I looked and their website and will definitely consider it.

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

I have part of my backyard in Easy Turf.  It has been there now at least 5+ years.  It is one of the best ways I have ever spent money!  Better than new countertops!   I live in southern California and while not as hard to keep grass as Nevada, hard enough.  I can spray it with clorox, water, nature's miracle or whatever.  But honestly even in our hot summer months I spray it down only if the one of the dogs has bad diarrhea.  It is the greatest.  Never muddy, never brown, never stinky and much easier to keep clean and tidy than rocks (which I have tried).

We have natural separation in our yard so I only did the left side of the garage in easy turf, the right side has the pool and only super durable plants and concrete.  This kept the cost for easy turf down and the dogs can only be in the pool area with supervision.

If you decide to go with artificial turf,  make sure the price includes a minimum of 6inches of dig out that is then refilled with sand, coarse gravel, and then fine gravel.  This makes the whole area under the easy turf like a French drain so the urine just flows right on down.  The turf itself should be very very difficult to impossible to pull one piece out with your fingers.  The side should be fastened securely every six inches or less.  I was most worried about the sides pulling up or being dug up by my dogs - I have had no trouble, but did spray the edges for the first few months with bitter apple just in case Tigger or Roo thought they had a bright idea.

 

Hope this helps 

 

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Does it get hot when in the direct sun, Maryann?

[Kara Haines]

Maryann,

Your post was very helpful.  We are having a few different companies come out and give us estimates.  I printed your suggestions. 

 

Thanks again,  Kara

[shelly]

Hmmm I have seen this mentioned before and have discussed it with DH... I wonder... do you think it could help keep the dog tick population down in that area?  She has had about 5 ticks on her this year.  I KNOW it is from her potty area because I have NOT let her out in the grassy areas due to the tick problem this year around here.  Tori's potty area is now just dirt and fallen pine needles because - obviously it is difficult to keep any grass there... and "MISS PRISS" doesn't like to get her feet wet in the rain and it makes it difficult to get her to go out when there are muddy puddles.  any idea of how much this costs to install?  Thanks!

[Amy, Cubbie & Ollie]

We have doggie turf in a 10x12 area that is used only as their potty area and is fenced off from the rest of the yard.  When it is hot in the summer we have to spray it off at least once a week with a kennel spray to keep it smelling fresh.  I think that most of the smell comes from the fact that I have 2 boy dogs that like to pee on the corner of the cinder block wall that separates the potty area from the patio leading into our basement.  We don't have the nice drainage system that Maryann has.  We just put our doggie turf down over some pea gravel that was already there.  

[Kara Haines]

Thank you for your reply.  I appreciate your suggestion.