"No dog pee" sign - is one style more effective?

[Anonymous]

Gawd, I can't believe DCUM is arguing about whether dog urine kills plants or not - well, I guess I CAN believe it. What's harder to believe is that this thread is 4 pages and no one has whipped out a 'citation' only anecdotes. So, I make the herculean effort and googled it.

It's definitive: Yes, dog urine can damage turf and other plants. Dog poop is not really a problem.

https://cmg.extension.colostate.edu/Gardennotes/553.pdf
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2020.615979/full
https://www.forbes.com/sites/linhanhcat/2019/05/16/dog-pee-on-green-infrastructure/?sh=7f11e8216f04

[Anonymous]

Instead, just put a sign saying yard treated with chemicals. Or yard treated for rodents. Or some other dangerous sounding advisement. That is truly the only way that people will stop their dogs from peeing on your grass. They don’t care about you. They only care about themselves. They have to think it would harm their dog to be on the grass

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hate the ones that say “be respectful.” It’s so smug and kindergarten teacher. I sometimes ignore those. But if a sign just says “curb your dog” or “please no pee” I definitely respect those.

Ha. I came to say this exact same thing. The ones that say “please be respectful” make me vomit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hate the ones that say “be respectful.” It’s so smug and kindergarten teacher. I sometimes ignore those. But if a sign just says “curb your dog” or “please no pee” I definitely respect those.

Ha. I came to say this exact same thing. The ones that say “please be respectful” make me vomit.

Dog owners: "asking me to be respectful of others makes me want to vomit."

Sums it up for dog owners.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Gawd, I can't believe DCUM is arguing about whether dog urine kills plants or not - well, I guess I CAN believe it. What's harder to believe is that this thread is 4 pages and no one has whipped out a 'citation' only anecdotes. So, I make the herculean effort and googled it.

It's definitive: Yes, dog urine can damage turf and other plants. Dog poop is not really a problem.

https://cmg.extension.colostate.edu/Gardennotes/553.pdf
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2020.615979/full
https://www.forbes.com/sites/linhanhcat/2019/05/16/dog-pee-on-green-infrastructure/?sh=7f11e8216f04

Dog poop isn’t a problem for the health of the lawn but it’s incredibly unhealthy in other ways, which I’m guessing you’d agree with.

And good on you for finding the proof that animal urine isn’t good for plants.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hate the ones that say “be respectful.” It’s so smug and kindergarten teacher. I sometimes ignore those. But if a sign just says “curb your dog” or “please no pee” I definitely respect those.

Ha. I came to say this exact same thing. The ones that say “please be respectful” make me vomit.

Dog owners: "asking me to be respectful of others makes me want to vomit."

Sums it up for dog owners.

Yep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree with a PP - I have never seen these so called brown spots caused by pee.

Have your eyes checked by an optometrist. My dog has been trained to go in one particular spot in the yard and the grass in that spot is dead.

Why would you train your dog to pee in the same spot over and over again if you know that brown spots are a result of dog pee in the same spot over and over again?

Probably so that only one spot is dead vs many spots all over the lawn.

[Anonymous]

Nothing says unfriendly like a sign like that. Please don't do it OP - the dog owners won't be the only ones who judge you. It's just stupid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree with a PP - I have never seen these so called brown spots caused by pee.

I have a large male dog. I have yellow dead grass spots all over my backyard. Maybe some dogs’ urine doesn’t kill grass, but my dog’s does. Fortunately, he only pees a ton in our yard. When we go on walks he’s just peeing a tiny amount here and there and not doing the same kind of damage. I think it’s that really concentrated, first pee of the day that’s so damaging.

It's dose-dependent.

The people who don't think pee (of any species) hurts plants is because they've probably only had small critters, including small dogs, pee on their property.

But large quantities of urine will cause browning.

Right, but that usually doesn't happen on a walk. Every dog I've had does an initial "big pee" in our yard to start, and then does minor marking during the walk.

In my opinion, both sides of the sidewalk are fair game, but only a couple of feet in. As a homeowner, I am purposeful about what I plant right next to the sidewalk.

Sorry, strong disagree. Only the strip between the sidewalk and road is fair game. I can’t believe it when I see other dog owners allowing their pets into neighbors’ yards. That gives the rest of us a bad name.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gawd, I can't believe DCUM is arguing about whether dog urine kills plants or not - well, I guess I CAN believe it. What's harder to believe is that this thread is 4 pages and no one has whipped out a 'citation' only anecdotes. So, I make the herculean effort and googled it.

It's definitive: Yes, dog urine can damage turf and other plants. Dog poop is not really a problem.

https://cmg.extension.colostate.edu/Gardennotes/553.pdf
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2020.615979/full
https://www.forbes.com/sites/linhanhcat/2019/05/16/dog-pee-on-green-infrastructure/?sh=7f11e8216f04

Dog poop isn’t a problem for the health of the lawn but it’s incredibly unhealthy in other ways, which I’m guessing you’d agree with.

And good on you for finding the proof that animal urine isn’t good for plants.

Yep, dog poop isn't much of a problem for turf/landscaping but it very much is in other ways.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I mean, if you put one up I will try to stop my dog from peeing. But know that you are in a minority of people that consider dog peeing somehow offensive, and now I as a neighbor know that about you.

It is gross to try to garden with dog pee/poop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree with a PP - I have never seen these so called brown spots caused by pee.

I have a large male dog. I have yellow dead grass spots all over my backyard. Maybe some dogs’ urine doesn’t kill grass, but my dog’s does. Fortunately, he only pees a ton in our yard. When we go on walks he’s just peeing a tiny amount here and there and not doing the same kind of damage. I think it’s that really concentrated, first pee of the day that’s so damaging.

It's dose-dependent.

The people who don't think pee (of any species) hurts plants is because they've probably only had small critters, including small dogs, pee on their property.

But large quantities of urine will cause browning.

They know. The worst offenders make sure their dog never goes in their yard.

My next door neighbor got a dog and suddenly my front and side yards looked like hell. They used my yard multiple times a day and denied even when I pulled in to my driveway and saw them. I politely asked them to stop and they handled it as you’d expect rude, entitled, selfish, self centered jerks would.

I would spray the grass with pesticide(or water) and put up a sign.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in Rockville. Aside from roaming neighborhood cats, there is an abundance of wildlife including squirrels, birds, mice, possums, raccoons, and an occasional deer. While it didn’t come to our neighborhood that I’m aware of, the news reported a bear in the area earlier this summer, and other years I remember warnings about coyotes. Since presumably all these animals urinate somewhere, I don’t think the neighborhood dogs make a significant difference.

That being said, the most memorable sign I ever saw was posted at a campground. It was a fake tombstone displaying the following verse:

Here he lies
all stiff and hard
the last d——d dog
that c——d in my yard.

In the suburban neighborhood where I live these animals dont come thru our yards at all. If they do it’s small potatoes compared to the number of dogs. Everyone got a dog during Covid and there are definitely more people complaining about them. Our HOA is dealing with more complaints.

Also if you are a dog owner what makes you think it is reasonable to let your dog go up in someone’s yard?

pp here - NOT a dog owner. I don’t have any pets.

I didn’t say that dog’s should “go up in someone’s yard”. I just think that in light of nature living naturally in the outdoors (even if part of that outdoors is someone’s property), the dogs wouldn’t seem to make a significant difference. I hadn’t realized your HOA was nature-proof. I fully agree it’s your yard and you can do what you want, whether or not it makes sense to me. Put up a sign, or a dozen signs, or a fence. Maybe your HOA can pass some regulations for dog owners if there are enough complaints.

Personally, I think cats are a lot more intrusive. I’ve never found a stray dog in my fenced backyard. Cats (which I’m allergic to), on the other hand, are apparently not deterred by a fence, and their owners don’t even try to keep them on a leash and out of people’s yards, much less try to control/clean up after any waste they leave behind.

Many HOAs have rules about putting signs up in yards too, lol.

Then just spray pesticide and don't put up any sign.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We live in a suburban neighborhood in Falls Church (22043) without any sidewalks, so there is no “strip next to sidewalk” that others refer to - is all lawn. As a dog owner, there is literally no other option than to allow my dog to go to the bathroom on someone’s lawn. I do not let him sniff or go on a lawn with any signage asking not to, but tbh we have deer, foxes, squirrels, raccoons, neighbors roaming cats, etc - so ppl who think their OUTDOOR space is not being used as natures bathroom are deluding themselves.

Why can't your dog pee and poop on your own lawn?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nothing says unfriendly like a sign like that. Please don't do it OP - the dog owners won't be the only ones who judge you. It's just stupid.

True, I would not put a sign like that. Instead I would put a friendly reminder that the yard is sprayed with toxic chemicals.