my poor lawn!

[hilhames]

spent a lot of time investigating puppy food and eventually settled on Applaws.  However wherever Chloe wees on the lawn it has turned brown and died I did not expect it to be as bad as it is. After 6 months of a puppy the lawn looks like a patchwork quilt.  That is in spite of the constant rain we have had.
I have tried dog rocks but they haven't made any difference - this may be because Chloe prefers puddles to her drinking water and the dog minder where she goes twice weekly has communal drinking water and doesn't use them.
Is it specifically bitches urine that kills the grass as my friend who has a male dog hasn't a problem.  Or is it likely to be food associated?
If so, has anyone found a good quality food where the grass doesn't get so badly affected?
I might be able to train Chloe to use a specific non grass area but I made the mistake of being so pleased that she was easy to housetrain that I didn't worry where she went during the training period.
I currently follow her around with a bucket of water which she thinks great fun, but that only works when I happen to take her out, no one else does this!

[Redked]

I don't know enough about food types to advise on whether that would make any difference to the wee but I know plenty about ruined lawns and patchwork effects 
I have heard that it is usually bitches wee that is the worst for ruining the grass. Our lawn is a mess from last year's puppy training.

However, we had 2 female dogs prior to Bonnie and our lawn was always OK but they were both spayed. Don't know if this makes any difference but people have said it does. Bonnie is spayed now so we will be hoping it does make a difference this year. Apart from digging the lawn up and concreting it I think the only option may well be to have an area where they can wee that is not grassed.

[ollie nathan's mum]

I have a male dog he is neutered, my lawn is patchwork. It has nothing to do with food. It's the nitrogen in urine that causes it. The only way to stop it is to pour a bucket of water over very time they wee. Your lawn won't repair itself so you will have to re seed the patches.

[lettie10]

After the second year and a second Cocker my "lawn" resembles a patchy swamp like bog and 2 lots of wet and muddy Cocker paw prints after every outside visit got just too much.  Not too mention poo hunting as it is disguised by the dead patches

I replaced my whole lawn with astroturf and have never looked back, personally I love it and it is very easy to keep clean and fresh.  It's not cheap and not everyone's cup of tea but works really well for us.

Before


After

[Redked]

I have a male dog he is neutered, my lawn is patchwork. It has nothing to do with food. It's the nitrogen in urine that causes it. The only way to stop it is to pour a bucket of water over very time they wee. Your lawn won't repair itself so you will have to re seed the patches.

Oh no Barbara...I was really hoping that is was going to be better this year. Astro turf or concrete then me thinks 

[zenon_bass]

Interestingly my entire foster lab bitch made the lawn a patchwork; after she had gone to her forever home spayed Millie hasn't had that effect..

[Archie bean]

Archie is castrated and my lawn is a hideous, patchwork mess! Not just the girls methinks. Although he is often the object of affection for many a boy........

[JennyBee]

My spayed girl has given us a patchwork lawn, it doesn't seem to matter what food she is on! The weird thing is she can wee in the same spot again and again with no effect, then wee in one area once and it burns the grass. My last cocker was an entire male and he never did it, despite a lifetime of 'curtseying' to wee on the grass. I wonder what makes it happen with some dogs and not others?

[ollie nathan's mum]

Maybe it's the amount of water a dog drinks, the more water the less nitrogen? Ollie isn't a big drinker.

[Joules]

As far as I understand it, girls tend to leave more brown patches because they squat to pee and therefore it is concentrated in one spot.  Boys that cock will "sprinkle" instead so it may not burn the grass so much 

[hilhames]

have people managed to train to go on non lawn areas at all?
It makes sense that boys sprinkle and so not so concentrated as the girls - guess the comment about amount drunk is also a sensible one
Anyone found that the dogrocks help?  As posted no good for us.
I think its the bucket of water that is the one possibility but it doesn't help on those occasions when the dog is just out playing and you are not following it around....
ANYONE got a girl dog AND a decent lawn?
I find it amazing that the lawn can be made bare when it has been raining non stop...
I think Astroturf is great idea if you have a small lawn but ours is pretty huge so would be so expensive!

[JennyBee]

Maybe it's the amount of water a dog drinks, the more water the less nitrogen? Ollie isn't a big drinker.

That makes sense - Brodie barely ever drinks, and Barney was the exact opposite.