Do Dog Rocks work?!

[Panicmode1]

Have mixed reviews from friends but need to find a solution to the appalling damage DDog is doing to our (small) lawn. Does anyone have any tips or things to try?

Ours are banished from the lawn having absolutely trashed it, would love a solution too.

If by dog rocks you mean those yellow lumps you put in their water bowl, can't say if they work or not [helpful] but my DF's lab ate it all in one go.

A chunk of pineapple a day in their dinner is supposed to work.

Will try pineapple thank you. Have also heard putting cider vinegar (?) in their water works too, but not sure that makes the water very tasty!

(Yes, I did mean the yellow lumps - the pet shop told me to put them into a jug of water which you then use to fill the water bowl - I know you are supposed to leave them in the water bowl, but I have a golden retriever so I suspect she wouldn't leave them be either!)

I use the black dog rocks (around £10 a pack - they last 2 months) and they do work. I only have a small female dog, weighs 9lbs, you do have to persevere and will see a difference in around 6 weeks. I'm quite picky about my garden/lawn and have definitely seen a difference. It takes a good couple of months for the burnt patches on your lawn to repair and then you will see a difference.

Work well for my two border terriers, I have used them for years and have a lovely lawn!

I've just started using the black rocks and it does seem to have made a difference. I have a male dog but the lawn is only small so gets weed on a lot!

I considered these but worried about what my dog would be ingesting. He's trained to go on the soil and mostly does but when he goes on the grass we just use a watering can to water the spot where he's been, it dilutes it and saves the grass.

Watching with interest Ddog 1 is ruining the lawn. I've had some companies in about the garden generally. To date suggestion are:

1. Fence off the lawn.
2. Replace lawn with artificial grass
3. Put down the plastic matting used in horse field gateways (grass grows through the matting).
4. Either give up on the lawn or Ddog

If the dog only has access to the garden whilst supervised honestly just get a watering can and water where he/she has been. We got a water butt specifically to save on water bills for this purpose!

Our puppy only goes out in the garden supervised. We have sectioned off a concrete area outside the back door for her to. Wee etc, . But if she does wee on the grass we put water over it straight away. Hoping it works. I love my garden, spent a lot on it. Haven't heard of the rock things? By did wonder why the dog I walk for a friend had 2 small rocks in his water haha

How do the dog rocks work?

Think they are supposed to neutralise the acid (?) in the urine which burns the grass, and I believe bitch urine is worse than dog, but am ready to stand corrected. I wonder if they work better on smaller dogs - my neighbour has a goldie too and said they didn't work. My 7 month pup is almost 30 kgs (already!) so maybe they are less efficient the bigger the dog......

If they neutralise the acid in the urine I'm not sure how much I'd want to mess around with the contents of my dog's urine.

Surely it's made the way it is because that's the way that works best for the dog's kidneys iuswim. How much have the long term effects on dogs been tested.

Had a look at manufacturers' website, and it all seems a bit woo to me.

Need something to help my poor sad grass but I'm not sure these are the answer. Think training not to pee on the grass as pp said is probably the better option.

Can't say they worked for my boxers.

We rent our house and have a big back lawn, boy boxers mostly toilets in the same area so we have decided to just replace that part of the lawn when we move next year.

Thanks

A squirt of ketchup on ArseDog's food everyday seems to have solved the problem for us.

Thats interesting RothSA - someone else mentioned that to me yesterday - will defo try it later!

Actually, I think it may have been an MN tip that one!

Do you put ketchup on both feeds or just one? (And how big a squirt? And does it have to be branded ketchup or will own brand work just as well? )

I'm not wasting Heinz money on the dog! I just use own brand, and do a random squirt over his dinner. Absolutely no measuring involved! Does seem to work though.

CSJ do a herbal supplement called Easy Peasy that I can vouch for. Costs about £13, lasts 3 months for a very big dog and is completely natural.

Thanks Sinclair - I can find CSJ but not the product - can you post a link please in case I've got the wrong CSJ?!