You probably should have reseeded last fall, but here we are. According to Texas A&M University, dog spots are caused by excess urea all in one spot. To take that a little further, it is really caused by the microbes in the soil stopping everything else they were doing to process the excess urea. You can help that situation by mixing 2 ounces of sugar (molasses or table sugar) in a gallon of water and drenching the spot. What that does is kick the microbes into their reproductive mode so you'll have a lot more microbes doing the work. When you have a lot more of them working, they get the job done faster and your spot will green up more quickly. But until the microbes finish processing that urea, you will have a yellow spot.

Chemical fertilizer should go down on the day you mow real grass (not weeds) for the second time. This ensures you have an active root system that will be able to take in the fertilizer.

If you are on an organic program, you can fertilize any time. I hit mine about 3 weeks prior to the historical date of our last frost. For me that means I fertilize on Valentine's Day.

I pulled a lot of the dead stuff out (pulled out easily as it was dead).
I had tried the sugar route before to no avail.
I'm starting the dogs on a Green Ums suppliment (stopped during the winter) again.
In the meantime, can I just add seed to the area and hope for the best?
I use Rich Lawn for fertilizer. I'll wait to use that after the first mow and when I turn the sprinklers back on.
Thanks.

Don't waste your money on the greenums. I didn't have any luck with them and it caused one of my dogs to have to urinate a lot.
The sugar, while a novel idea, is impractical to figure out where to put it every time your dog urinates, figure on a lot more $$ on sugar than on new grass seed anyway. With dogs you're always going to have those spots. With a clumping grass like fescue the grass will die from the pee and not fill in. All you can do is overseed. I did it to conceal the burn marks that I have last week.

Oh As for what to use, check to see what is rated higly for performance by your state or the nearest state that does trials by going to www.ntep.org then click on states.

Most of what's rated is available from your neighborhood hardware store.

If your lawn is KBG, just water well and it will come back. The lawn at my condo had lots of spots every year. Every summer the lawn completely greened up on it's own.

The urine is highly nitrogenized....it has burned the spots.
Nothing will make the grass come back.

If you have a garden or otherwise edging where the lawn stops, try to imagine where you might clean up the edges, maybe make a better curve to a garden plot.
There, take some plugs.

Measure the areas of the affected parts. Then use the same measures to cut free from the edges of the garden a plug.
Be sure the edges are cleaned up...measure beyond the burn mark. Then place the plug in and stomp on.
The plug will do the job within a short time.

Otherwise, give your lawn a chance to fix itself.
Usually just giving your lawn a decent amount of nitrogen fertilizer will help fill in the blanks.

The place where your dogs have selected to go should be regularly watered extra to try to alleviate the problem before it becomes a problem.

Overseeding in the spring when the soil begins to warm up is always a good idea. Anytime we can make our lawns more lush is the much better way to defend against those things that attack it....including pests and weeds.

The urine is highly nitrogenized....it has burned the spots.
Nothing will make the grass come back.

While that is true for the cool season grasses, warm season grasses bounce back immediately from a sugar treatment, even after yellowing.

Not the end of the problem but there is evidence that Yucca Schidigera reduces the ammonia in a dogÂs urine. This helps control the spots (note the word helps). Most of the super premium dog foods have this additive. The cheaper dog foods with soy seem to make the problem worse. The following quote is from Merrick.

"Yucca Schidigera Extract is a product derived from the Yucca cactus. Its primary function is that of reducing odor in dog urine and feces. The compound extracted is classified as a sapogenin and research shows it is able to reduce ammonia naturally."

I did notice the brand of kibble I use (Solid Gold) does have the yucca extract just like the greenums but if anything it made the problem here worse since one of the boys had to go so frequently. He'd wake up in the middle of the night to go following greenums in the day. Mysteriously only on those days.

On newly emerged grass plants, they're easy to kill with urine and it never comes back. With established grass or grass that spreads that is a different story perhaps.

Well I started giving my dogs now a different product (used to give them Greenums, now Dr. Foster and Smith's Lawnguard Treats).
To be on the safe side, I now get up early every morning, take them out to the backyard and make sure they pee in the area of the yard where there's no grass. I also do this before going to bed. So at least I know that a majority of their pee is not on the grass.
Though it is hard to get two dogs to both go in one area, as they can be stubborn, so far it's working.
I praise them everytime they don't go on the grass.
I still let them poo on the grass as it was the pee that was burning it.

Now that you've waited seeding and sodding are necessary, however, to prevent it in the future we carry two great all natural products designed specifically for this problem. Water will work to flush out the nitrogen from the urine if done right away but it will not help the microbes the lawn needs to repair itself. Dogonit Lawn Repair will flush out the nitrogen and add more beneficial microbes to the lawn to encourage new growth. You can help prevent the problem in the first place by giving your dog G-Whiz Neutralizer treats or liquid supplement to neutralize the urine. It also provides them with all 10 essential amino acids needed to utilize proteins properly and support healthy skin and coat. Both products are all natural and safe for children, pets and the environment. For more info click link below

Here is a link that might be useful: Why Two Products for Lawn Burns?

Brown or dead spots caused by dog urine are very difficult to control, I have tried several different doggy diet supplements and none of these has worked, I even tried this stuff that paints the dead spot green (a total waste!).

The dead spot is caused by an overdose of nitrogen when your dog evacuates all in one spot, usually by a female. The nitrogen is normally produced when the dog breaks down protein, so unless you turn your pouch into a vegetarian you are always going to get a nitrogen burn.

The only product I have used that helps regrow the dead spots is TurfPro. It is an organic product so it will not harm your pets or anyone else that comes in contact with your lawn.

I would also suggest not putting fertilizer on the dead spots because this is just increasing the problem. Also, lowering the amount of N in your fertilizer would not be a bad idea.

Here is a link that might be useful: I buy TurfPro here.