[aimee]

Hi Howard and Dori,

The idea that urine pH plays a role in lawn burn was actually tested a long time ago. (Apparently Dr. Becker missed that publication.) It was published in 1981 and titled appropriately enough “Lawn Burn from Dog Urine. pH was one of the variables tested and it was found not to play any role in lawn burn. “The pH of urine has no effect on lawn burn”. Interestingly enough the authors reported that dl-methionine did decrease lawn burn because it acts as a diuretic and decreased urine concentration. Salt as a diuretic was a bit more effective.

You can read the publication here: http://www.myxyz.org/phmurphy/dog/LawnBurn1.pdf

I wouldn’t recommend adding things to your dog’s diet. I found these 2 articles that have a lot of information and suggest that if feeding a high protein food lowering the protein may help by decreasing the nitrogen load on the lawn. It sounds like a reasonable hypothesis but I can’t find that idea tested anyplace. I’d think urine concentration plays the largest role and watering the area after the dog eliminates probably the most effective measure to take.

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+2085&aid=1493

http://www.doghealth.com/how-to/how-to-prevent-lawn-burn-from-dog-urine