I first heard about Dog Rocks in a Facebook Group a couple of weeks ago. Someone was looking for a solution to the urine burn marks their dog left on the lawn, and Dog Rocks were suggested. Initially, I envisioned rocks being used to cover up the burn marks, but that is not how this product works. Instead, you put the rocks in the drinking water, and they absorb nitrates from the water. As one advertisement put it, “less nitrates going in means less nitrates coming out the other end.” With lower nitrates, the grass is not burned, and your dog no longer creates spots on the lawn.
Normally, when I review products for the garden, I try to be politically correct and bite my tongue, but not this time. This is the dumbest product I have ever come across. A small bit of logic will tell you that it has zero chance of working, and I’ll explain why shortly.
Why Does Dog Urine Burn the Lawn?
The first cause that comes to mind is pH. What is the pH of dog urine? The normal pH for dog urine is around 6 to 6.5, which is the ideal pH for growing most plants. So clearly it is not pH.
The next suspect is nitrogen. We all know that if we spread too much fertilizer on the lawn grass, it burns. The culprit in this fertilizer is nitrogen. Too much nitrate or ammonium will kill plants.
Urine contains fairly high levels of urea, which is quickly converted to ammonium when exposed to water and then to nitrate through the action of bacteria. The common belief is that nitrogen burns the grass, but new research shows that this is a myth. The nitrogen level in urine does not significantly harm lawns.
The real culprit is lactic acid. Lactic acid can be in quite high levels in dog urine, and chemically it acts similarly to glyphosate, which is a known herbicide. The level of lactic acid in urine depends on diet and the dog’s exercise level. Increased exercise can increase levels by a factor of 250.
How Do Dog Rocks Work?
The promoters of this product explain it this way, “Dog Rocks are a paramagnetic igneous rock which creates a magnetic field within the water, causing a change in the ion exchange. This, in turn, diminishes the nitrates that are found in the water.” They claim that the rocks absorb nitrate from the water, which results in less nitrate being urinated on the lawn.
As soon as you see “paramagnetic” anything, it’s a red flag for false advertising. I can’t think of a consumer product where paramagnetism provides any benefit.
No scientific studies are available from the manufacturer to prove any of this, which is surprising since “The product was researched for 4 years and then went on the market.” (reference for quote no longer available) It would only take a few days to put some rocks in water and measure the decrease in nitrates. This would not prove they work, but at least it would prove their theory is plausible.
Interestingly, they do post a report from McGill, Office of Science and Society, which discusses why dog urine has high levels of nitrogen, but this report does not mention Dog Rocks, nor does it put any of the blame for high nitrogen in urine on the water that dogs drink.
As stated above, the most likely cause for dog spots is lactic acid, not nitrogen.
Video on Dog Rocks
Is Nitrate in Drinking Water a Problem?
Most people use home tap water to water their lawn. This is the same water that is used to fill the dog’s water dish.
Why is it that when you water your lawn with this water, you get no grass burn, but when a dog pees on the lawn after drinking the same water, you get a burn? Clearly, the nitrates in drinking water are not burning the lawn!
It is quite obvious to me that the high levels of urea are not from the drinking water, but from the rest of the dog’s diet, and the report by McGill confirms this. A high-meat diet contains a lot of protein, which contains high levels of nitrogen. This results in higher urea levels in the urine.
Nitrogen levels in drinking water are not the problem. So even if the Dog Rocks did as claimed, they would not reduce damage to the lawn.
Do Dog Rocks Remove Nitrate From Drinking Water?
There is no science to support this idea, and the company promoting the product has no data to support their claim. The scientific mumbo jumbo they use to explain their product makes no sense.
It is unlikely that these rocks reduce the level of nitrate in water but if they do, it would be insignificant.
Solving Lawn Spots
There are four things you can do to stop damage to your lawn from dog urine.
- Reduce the meat in the diet. This reduces urea in the urine.
- Water the lawn right away after a dog pees. This dilutes both the nitrogen and lactic acid, and washes it lower into the soil, making your grass grow better.
- Train the dog to pee in the same spot all of the time.
- Get a cat!
They didn’t work for me. What did work is putting lime on the lawn to lower the acidity, and watering.
Regardless of the science, this product works for us. And yes, we did a controlled experiment with granite rocks (which didn’t work of course). We’ve used this product for several dogs we’ve had through the years and get consistent, positive results. Included in our pack have been a couple of greyhounds who, as desert dogs, have notoriously strong urine. In fact, it was our first greyhound that drove us to find this product.
We were skeptical of Dog Rocks but took a chance and were surprised by the results. Not sure how many dog owners there are amongst the intellectual elitist snobs (yes, you Carl & Claudia) that found it necessary to insult and mock the posters who support this product but I’m guessing not many.
Finally, for the author Mr. Pavlis: of your four suggestions on how to reduce yellow spots from canine urine, I, too, am going to be politically incorrect and use your term for three of them and say that they are the dumbest suggestions I’ve ever heard.
1 – Reduce the meat in the diet. Yeah, right. Dog’s evolutionarily path is similar to that of cows – vegetarians that graze. NOT. You must not be a dog owner or you would be aware of the current surge in ‘grain-free’ dog food products. Dogs are predators whose ancestors lived on meat.
2 – Water the lawn right away after a dog pees. Any dog owner knows it’s a silly suggestion to follow your dog around with a garden hose to flush their urine into the ground.
3 – Train the dog to pee in the same spot all of the time. This is actually a GOOD suggestion.
4 – Get a cat! Sure, get an animal that you will allow to urinate and defecate in your house! If you’re lucky, they’ll use a litter box and simply stink up your house. If you’re not lucky and have a cat that decides that the carpet is just as good as the litter box then you’ll be replacing thousands of dollars in flooring vs. fixing yellow spots in your lawn. STU-PID.
Sounds like you’re really good at horticulture. My suggestion would be that you stick to what you know.
Suggestions 1 to 3 are not mine – they are from dog owners dealing with the problem.
I’ll take credit for #4 – guess you don’t understand humor?
If there’s enough nitrate in your drinking water to cause a burn from your dog’s urine, look in the mirror, because you are probably turning blue and need to rush to a hospital. At least laboratories that spend $1000’s a year on ion exchange resins can now simply stick a couple of rocks in their resin cases and have zero nitrates in their blank water!
There’s a sucker born every minute.
Excuse me but did you jsut say “Reduce the meat in the diet.”??? That is so dangerous and misleading. Dogs diet must consist of mostly meat and by mostly i mean at least 85% of their ration has to be animal products mostly meat, some fish, bones and organs.
I am not a vet – but the vet community disagrees with your “at least 85% of their ration has to be animal products mostly meat”.
https://wagwalking.com/wellness/is-meat-really-necessary-for-dogs
They did not work for us at all, bought a few packs continuously- they are also rather expensive.
Your article was interesting. Thanks for the info regarding nitrates. But dog rocks do work. And not all rocks are equal. So not any rock will do. Also putting water on the site after doesn’t work, unless I didn’t put on enough. So some of your additional comments not so insightful.
Shoe me a study that proves they work!
This product works!!! My dog swollowed one of the rocks, died, and now NO BURN MARKS! Not the mechanism I was expecting but the net effect was the same. RIP Fluffy.
Hi. I have two Cane Corso. They drink a lot of water. More like a horse drinking. Because of the burns on my lawn, I resorted to dog rocks, although very skeptical. It has all but elealiviated the marks. I feel like an idiot for believing this but it is what it is. Somthing is helping. I will do a very controlled experiment and see what I come up with.
Here is a suggestion. Replace the dog rocks with similar sized pieces of granite. See if they work as well.
We been using dog rocks for a month now.
I haven’t noticed any new burn patches, however there is random patches of grass longer and darker in colour than rest of garden.
I think your synopsis here is spot on. I’m guessing since they have a new toy they give their pets more water and more water dilutes their urine. I’m thankful for your post.
I guess technically we could just go find some igneous rocks somewhere and use them rather than buying them.
That is what I am starting to think as well. You paid good money for rocks – now you take care of them and water the bowl more – which leads to diluted urine.
If this is true, any rocks should work.
But that is just a guess. All we know for sure is that rocks have no effect on the chemistry of the water.