Best Types of Grass for Dogs

Between potty time and play time, dogs can be especially hard on grass. While no grass variety is completely 100% resistant to the ravages of Rover, there are a few types of grasses that recover quickly from urine burning or digging. Grasses that use a rhizome to spread tend to be those that repair themselves faster than those types that require reseeding. These grasses include 3-D Bluegrass and Sportstuff (Bluegrass and Perennial ryegrass).

Brown, Yellowish Patches

If you notice brown spots on the lawn, try to determine if these are places where your dog urinates frequently. There tends to be a higher concentration of nitrogen in urine that can burn spots on the lawn, similar to that of overfertilizing. You can mitigate this type of damage by watering the area to dilute the urine concentration as quickly as possible. Planting cool season grasses will also help as these can recover from these burns more quickly.

Wear and Tear

Homes with dogs that spend a lot of time outside often see worn patches in their grass from dogs running, playing, and digging in the grass. Some of this activity cannot be avoided, but cool season grasses will repair holes and divots naturally and very rapidly. If you have smaller dogs in an average size lawn, this is likely not a big problem. However, large or medium dogs in a small or medium sized lawn will yield noticeable turf damage as they run and play regularly. If your dog runs along fence areas, one might simply want to place organic mulch or sand in lieu of grass.

Lawn Aeration

We recommended having core-aerification done on the entire lawn on a regular basis and compacted areas may require double aerification in those specific areas. If your lawn sees heavy traffic, complete this aeration every Spring and early Fall.

By keeping the lawn more porous, the lawn’s roots will have more oxygen to stay healthy, allow for more water and nutrients to penetrate to a deeper depth and assist in the break down thatch to keep your lawn looking its best.