Smelly Yard

[MericoX]

Is there anything I can add to the dogs food, or put in the yard, that will make it stop smelling so bad?

The dog yard is about 30x30, and with 4 dogs (two which are males) it is starting to smell. It wasn't a problem last year, but I'm chalking it up to last year it literally rained all summer.

 

[AllieMackie]

If the rain helped dispel the smell last year, just run the hose on the yard every so often. or run a sprinkler to disperse the urine.

 

[corgipower]

I find the best thing to do is water the yard often. Really soak it.

Also bleaching the yard can help cut odors as can lime. (Not together).

 

[Kat09Tails]

What kind of ground is in your dog yards? Is it just grass or gravel or ? is there a particular spot the dogs like to mark or smells worse?

 

[MericoX]

It's grass (its just a fenced in section of our lawn). And they pretty much pee everywhere, mostly in the yard (versus the fence) and pee on each others pee.

 

[Kat09Tails]

I'd go with bleach in a miracle grow hose attachment. It dilutes it perfectly and won't kill your grass.

 

[ihartgonzo]

Feed raw! If that is an option for you... it is so worth the cost and time.

My dogs have odorless pees and poops. I have a teeny tiny yard, smaller than yours, and 2 bigger dogs, and it doesn't smell at all.

 

[MericoX]

Wish I could feed raw
We're switching to grain-free dog food again tomorrowish, so hopefully that will help some? I'd honestly rather the yard smell like poo - at least that's just picked up and disposed of.

Maybe I should just limit their food/water so they don't make as much urine... hmmm....

 

[ihartgonzo]

The more water they get, the less smelly their pee will be. That's one of the reasons raw pee doesn't smell... it is way less concentrated because on top of normal water drinking, they get lots of moisture from their food.

Have you checked out the products that you add to food to eliminate pee spots? Maybe that would help with concentrated pee, too?

 

[MericoX]

Yeah, I'm gonna look into that. The last couple months they've been on Purina ONE, Blue Buffalo, and the last couple days Purina Little Bites (yeah broken car). So going to switch their food over today to the good stuff.

Lucky me gets to get poo-eater stuff for a certain poodle as well. Kill me.

 

[MicksMom]

Lime is great for getting rid of pee smell, and it's great for your yard.

 

[Lolas Dad]

Another thing you might consider is only allowing them to eliminate in one section of the yard. This will at least narrow down the area that would need to be cleaned.

 

[DanL]

Feeding raw didn't help urine odor on my dogs. Our problem is it hasn't rained much, and then when it does, it brings out the smell real bad. We've used lime in the past, it' helps but you really have to put it on there good.

 

[Karebear]

If you have a black light use it at night to find the urine spots that are causing the odor. Place a marker in those places so you can find them in the daylight,apply urine odor-neutralizing granules to the spots. Only a capful of granules,at the most is needed when the dog needs to go out take him/her to a different spot in the yard to give the granules a chance to take effect remove the flags and repeat as necessary as once a week. It is better to use the granule form than the liquid form since the liquid form can leak harmful chemicals.Many odor-neutralizing granules are made with all-natural ingredients and are typically not harmful to pets, but you should read the container to make sure.

 

[SisMorphine]

Feeding raw didn't help urine odor on my dogs.

Mine either.

I'm having the same yard smell problem. I believe it is because this past year the size of the dog yard was cut in half, and the half that is still theirs is on a very hard packed clay. Yuck.

I was told to use an aerator and then to get a gallon of vinegar and spread the whole gallon over the yard, using a miracle grow container attached to the hose. I haven't tried it yet (neighbor has been borrowing the aerator for nearly a month now, ugh), but when I do I'll let you know how it works.

 

[Dogrrific]

No more lawn brown spots

On my site I recently posted a myth to be busted about adding some ketchup in the food.
It is said to take care of smell and brown spots, although not answered yet I do not think it could be a "winner"

 

[YodelDogs]

My dog yard isn't very big either and thanks to all the humidity here it tends to hold odors. To combat the smell I take a one gallon pump up sprayer and add 1 cup lemon scented ammonia, 1 cup mint mouthwash, and a teaspoon lemon scented dishwashing liquid. Fill the rest of the tank with water then spray the yard with it. (For larger areas you could alway use a hose end sprayer and adjust the ingredients until it suits you.) It really does freshen the area quite a bit but it's effect is not permanent. You will have to reapply here and there.

 

[MericoX]

We had a really huge mondo thunderstorm come in last week (or maybe the week before) and the yard no longer smells. Woot! But will keep this thread in mind if it starts to smell again. Thanks guys!