Lawn Care With Dogs: 3 Tips to a Healthy Lawn and Happy Dog

Your dog is your best friend. He’s always there for you when you need a pal. He’s always ready to listen, and greets you when you get home with a wagging tail.

Since your dog is there for you, you certainly don’t want to let him down. We get it. We love our pets, too.

But when your dog roots around in your garden, digs up grass, or causes spots in your lawn, it can feel like it’s impossible to have the lawn you love and give your best friend a place to hang out in your yard, too. You know your dog loves your grass as much as you do, sniffing it, rolling in it, and just enjoying it. The two should be able to coexist in harmony.  

Is there such a thing as pet-friendly lawn care where you can have the best of both worlds? Sure, lawn care with dogs can be tough, but it’s possible.   

Let’s look at the logistics of taking care of a lawn with dogs, so you can have the best of both worlds.

How to Care for a Lawn With Dogs

Today, you might see more than a few neighbors taking their beloved dogs for walks around the neighborhood. 

Dogs keep you active, give you a chance to get outside, and remind you to cherish the simple things like throwing a ball back and forth across the lawn or just basking in the sunshine. 

But when you’re taking care of a lawn with dogs, the task requires you to pay attention to a few specific areas a bit differently to ensure success.  

Lawn Care Tips With Dogs: Help When Your Dog Rips Up Your Lawn

When you have a dog, it can certainly be frustrating when your pet digs holes or rips up your lawn when he’s playing, running, or rooting around in your grass. 

We’ve seen a lot of lawns and a lot of pet damage in our time, so we can offer some good suggestions when it comes to keeping your grass nice when your dog has a little too much fun on your lawn. 

It starts with repair, which will depend on how much damage your dog did. Lawn aeration and overseeding can usually take care of most repair issues.

But once you repair your lawn, you certainly don’t want your dog redigging holes in your new grass. So the next step is addressing your dog’s behavior. Some of our customers have taken their dogs for long walks or to dog parks so they get that extra energy out. This ensures your dog isn’t bored and resorts to digging. 

Another option to consider are grass alternatives or specific areas for your dog to use that matter less to your overall lawn look. A side yard is a good option or a section of a larger property that can be your pet’s personal outdoor oasis. For turf alternatives, you can consider more hardscaping options or plant beds.

Lawn Care Tips With Dogs: Dealing With Dog Urine Burns

On a list of lawn care tips with dogs will always be the problem of dealing with dog urine spots. 

You want to keep your grass green, but dog urine can alter the look of some spots in your lawn. There isn’t a ton of way around this one beyond encouraging dogs to use certain areas of your lawn for their business. Less noticeable spots, such as far corners of your yard or side yards, can ensure you don’t see these areas as much. 

But it’s also important to note that a thick, healthy lawn will stand up to dog urine a lot better than one that is unhealthy and struggling. To keep a healthy lawn, you want to follow some proper care tips. 

This includes mowing to a 3.5- to 4-inch height to keep your lawn from stressing out, providing the proper nutrient balance through fertilization, providing longer, infrequent irrigation, and aerating and overseeding once annually to limit compaction and fill in bare areas, as well as topdressing to improve your soil. Your ultimate goal is to create the best environment for your lawn to grow and give dog urine less of a chance to make a dent.

Priority No. 1: Seek Pet-Friendly Lawn Care Services

When you are hiring a professional to take care of your lawn, you want to make sure they care about your pets as much as you do. 

And you can have both a lawn that looks good and is safe for your pets. Proper lawn care with dogs is possible. These ideas can keep you on track to reach this goal.

1. Talk to Your Lawn Care Service Provider About Your Pet

To have appropriate lawn care with dog services, your service provider needs to know you have a pet. 

This ensures your lawn care professional lets you know when they’re coming so you can keep your dog inside and he doesn’t accidentally escape from your yard during the visit. 

You can also let your service technician know that you’d like any dog toys picked up or your gate closed and latched when they are finished so they know your preferences.

2. Look For Pet-Friendly Lawn Care With Dog Services

In addition to making sure your lawn care service technician knows you have a dog, you want to make sure you feel comfortable with the products he or she is using on your lawn.

You want to pick a company that uses pet-safe products and trains its technicians to use them properly. 

You also want a lawn care professional that will give you some guidance on when it’s safe to let your dog back outside after treatment. Typically, your dog can go back on the lawn after products are dry.

3. Inquire About Services That Protect Your Dog As Well As Your Lawn

When you have a dog, fleas and ticks become another concern your pet can encounter in your yard. The dangerous diseases they carry and can spread to your pets and your family members are certainly concerning. 

Hire a lawn care company that also provides flea and tick treatments to help reduce these dangerous pests in your landscape. This ensures you’re taking care of your lawn with dogs in the best way that you can.

For instance, at Turf’s Up, we provide an service that is a safe solution for controlling these pests, as well as fleas, on your property. And since it’s a natural product, it’s 100 percent pet-safe. 

In addition to reducing populations in your yard, we also recommend you follow your vet’s advice. After all, when you take your dog for a walk, you don’t want him to encounter fleas and ticks in the local park after protecting him from fleas and ticks in your yard.

Taking Care of a Lawn With Dogs is Possible With Turf’s Up in Northern Virginia

Your dog is a part of your family, so their safety is important to you. And you’d love to have a nice lawn, too, as well as keep your dog happy and healthy. 

If you have questions about Turf’s Up’s pet-friendly lawn care services in Northern Virginia, give us a call. 

We have pets, too, so we understand where you’re coming from and want to educate you on what’s best for your lawn and your pet so you can have the best of both worlds. 

Ready to learn why Turf’s Up could be your totally awesome choice for lawn care services in Northern Virginia? We’re stoked to learn more about you and help you have the best lawn on the block. Get started today with a free quote. Together, we can prepare a customized plan that is perfect for you and your lawn.