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RASelkirk
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Posts: 37
Joined: Mon Nov 23, 2020 5:47 pm
Location: SETX, zone 9b

Dog wee spots

Hi All,

As our Aussie has aged, she's been going to the same potty spot(s) long enough to ruin the St. Augustine grass. I have some cheap low-profile fencing coming to keep her away from those spots until they heal. I was gonna try some baking soda solution, so I checked the PH with a meter and got some strange results. The dead spots are showing 6.5 while multiple areas of unspoiled lawn are showing 5.8. From what I read, that's acceptable for St. A, but I also read that dog wee is highly acidic. So why is the dead grass showing a reading closer to neutral than clear lawn?

Russ

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applestar
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Posts: 30551
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

Are you soaking and diluting the area where she goes? I’ve always understood it’s the concentration of salts that kills the grass.

Urine isn’t necessarily always acidic — depends on health conditions — maybe your dog’s is alkaline?

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RASelkirk
Full Member
Posts: 37
Joined: Mon Nov 23, 2020 5:47 pm
Location: SETX, zone 9b

Not yet (soaking). My fence came in today so she'll be forced to "relocate" her spots. The local feed store wanted to sell me supplements to adjust her urine's PH, but they stated it would neutralize the acids. Since she's 10+ now, I'd rather not give her anything unnecessary, so I will aerate the areas and hope they recover naturally. The "salts" thing could explain the discrepancy on PH, thanks!

Russ



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