Totally-OT, But I Need the Help

[pmulcahy11b]

I'm guessing a lot of you guys have dogs. I have five, and they tend to pee in a relatively few spots in the yard, right on top of each others' marks, over and over again. And with the South Texas heat, that makes those places smell worse than a latrine on a seldom-used range. How can I get rid of the smell without killing the grass? Washing it down with water frequently doesn't help.

[Schone23666]

Paul, you COULD try lots of baking soda. I don't know if that would do the trick with what you describe, but my mother's used it in the past I think with decent results. But as I said, you'll need a lot from the sound of it. Don't use water, just toss liberal amounts mixed in with a bit of loose soil/dirt on top.

Barring that, all I can think of is check your local pet store or PetSmart (if you have one in the area) and ask for pet odor control powders/chemicals, they usually have something in stock. Hope that helps.

[mikeo80]

Paul,

The dogs I have had have all been spayed or neutered. They always seemed to "lift the leg" at random locations in the yard.

I am NOT a vet, but, that has been my experience. I do NOT know if the fix helped but the dogs and the yard were happy.

ANother question: How big a yard? I have a 1/4 acre with the back half fenced. That seemed to be enough for one or two dogs max.

My $0.02

Mike

[pmulcahy11b]

The backyard by itself is 0.22 acres. When you have several dogs, repetitive marking is just one of the things they do -- just part of the family dynamic, I guess. All my guys are spayed or neutered; I've always spayed or neutered my dogs (and when I was growing up, my parents did). And yet, they do this goofy thing. (Except for Lily -- she's kind of stuck up.) I suppose it doesn't help that my two biggest dogs (70 and 100 pounds) are male -- I've noticed that male urine does the most damage to plants and smells worse.

[Legbreaker]

Have you considered electrifying the grass?

[ArmySGT.]

pepper spray the pee spots and maybe they will be forced to find a new one?

Maybe splash some coyote urine in a dozen spots to keep them circling the yard?

[Cpl. Kalkwarf]

Originally Posted by pmulcahy11b

The backyard by itself is 0.22 acres. When you have several dogs, repetitive marking is just one of the things they do -- just part of the family dynamic, I guess. All my guys are spayed or neutered; I've always spayed or neutered my dogs (and when I was growing up, my parents did). And yet, they do this goofy thing. (Except for Lily -- she's kind of stuck up.) I suppose it doesn't help that my two biggest dogs (70 and 100 pounds) are male -- I've noticed that male urine does the most damage to plants and smells worse.

Its a dog thing. They are marking the territory and or communicating. Not so much of a problem with just one, but with two they may be just trying to one up man-ship one another. Kinda like guys do. That is why the female may not be part of the problem. Shes different.

As far as getting them to stop is good luck, if you do use coyote urine, they may just move it to another area and then you would have to do it again and again, and its quite possible that you may have a whole yard smelling like dog and coyote piss.

Have you tried consulting your veterinarian?

[ArmySGT.]

Originally Posted by Cpl. Kalkwarf

As far as getting them to stop is good luck, if you do use coyote urine, they may just move it to another area and then you would have to do it again and again, and its quite possible that you may have a whole yard smelling like dog and coyote piss.

That was my point really.

A few squirts of Coyote Urine in several different areas of the yard on the same day. Then they have to run around trying to pee on a dozen spots to one up the coyote and each other.

Get them to spread it around with out making it a bunch of work for the owner.

On the other hand dog is good for a few meals, maybe six if you stew them.

[Legbreaker]

Originally Posted by pmulcahy11b

How can I get rid of the smell without killing the grass? Washing it down with water frequently doesn't help.

Getting back to the topic at hand...
http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question...7121113AAMYF7G
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/...515119144.html
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load...116331091.html
http://www.dailypuppy.com/articles/h...6-15bff0441897
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/a..._problems.html
Seems to be absolutely truckloads of info on the topic...

[kcdusk]

Has anyone ever been in a game where a "dogs" or "wild dogs" encounter has been generated? I remember back when i started with T2K that i treated this as "no encounter". Later on, i could see some benefit to gaming out a "dog" encounter especially where a referee was involved. Dogs could ransack a camp if the PC's left it unattended, dogs could wake characters during the night with loud howling or if they were creeping around camp they could generate noise the PC's would feel the need to investigate further than the glow of the camp fire. Dogs could also draw attention to the characters so that an opposing force found them.

My question though is this, has anyone shot a dog for food?

[Targan]

The characters in my last campaign killed a number of dogs but they avoided eating them because they were concerned the dogs might have been diseased. I guess they weren't that hungry!

I don't know why you'd consider an encounter rolled as 'Wild Dogs" as "no encounter". Maybe it's due to the lethal nature of the combat system we used but in my campaigns wild dogs and wolves can be terrifying encounters. A pack of dogs could rip a PC to shreds in very short order.

[Graebarde]

Originally Posted by kcdusk

Has anyone ever been in a game where a "dogs" or "wild dogs" encounter has been generated? I remember back when i started with T2K that i treated this as "no encounter". Later on, i could see some benefit to gaming out a "dog" encounter especially where a referee was involved. Dogs could ransack a camp if the PC's left it unattended, dogs could wake characters during the night with loud howling or if they were creeping around camp they could generate noise the PC's would feel the need to investigate further than the glow of the camp fire. Dogs could also draw attention to the characters so that an opposing force found them.

My question though is this, has anyone shot a dog for food?

We ran into feral dogs on more than one occassion in various campaigns. Never were they friendly encounters I might add as we had a very sadistic HoG. Yes, we killed dogs. And we killed more than one for food.

In answer to the last question, out of game I have shot dogs, but never to eat. Packs were always fair game on the farm. Kill the leaders and they packs usually broke up, but not always. Much like the two legged variety of dogs.
FB

[Legbreaker]

I've used dogs as an encounter also, and if used properly they can be ver effective. A dog will not normallyl attach a group of humans, but given the right circumstances it's a very nasty encounter. A solitary sentry at night can be in big trouble if the dogs get close enough without detection. Add in the risk of rabies and other diseases....

[pmulcahy11b]

You know, to the right people, veterinary first aid and medications, even those for dogs and cats, may be very valuable.

[weswood]

Originally Posted by kcdusk

Has anyone ever been in a game where a "dogs" or "wild dogs" encounter has been generated? I remember back when i started with T2K that i treated this as "no encounter". Later on, i could see some benefit to gaming out a "dog" encounter especially where a referee was involved. Dogs could ransack a camp if the PC's left it unattended, dogs could wake characters during the night with loud howling or if they were creeping around camp they could generate noise the PC's would feel the need to investigate further than the glow of the camp fire. Dogs could also draw attention to the characters so that an opposing force found them.

My question though is this, has anyone shot a dog for food?

I had a real life encounter with a pack of dogs last year, if there wasn't a fence I finally got out of, or if they'd have knocked me down, I'd be history.

[natehale1971]

One of the things about Post-Apoc gaming... I use to freak out my GM by finding animal hostpials to get to, and 'salvage' (the nice way to say LOOT) the meds, and medical equipment. In a zomibe post apoc campaign one of the other PCs was really badily injuried and needed sugery. The party was going to try and get into a hospital that had been overrun early on by the zombies and you could see the gleam in the GM's eye for the TPK that they were about to get into.

And My character (the new PC who was a US Army national guard infantry squad leader who had manned a roadblock for one of the quarantine zones, and in his civilian life worked as a security guard) said... "STOP, are you crazy? That place is crawling with more zombies than we have bullets, even if we stop by the damn armoury first. Let's find an animal hospital... it's got all the same equipment and medinces. And it sure as hell wasn't the place people infected with RV (reanimate virsus) would go to for help."

Needless to say the GM wasn't pleased that he didn't get his TPK... but the other Players (and PCs) were very thankful to my (and my character's) quick thinking.

the animal hospitals that deal with large animals like thourobred horses is usally the best... or those where rich people have large dogs. beause you will find CAT Scans and MRI machines in those kinds of areas. In fact there are three Animal Hospitals around me right now that has everything you'd find in a hospital.... one of them actually has a full lab set up, while the other two normally sends samples to a big lab when necessary.

[ArmySGT.]

Eat the Dogs.