Should I not use lawn chemicals if I have dogs?

A

Alexa

New member
We love our yard, it's super green and our lawn company does a great job. But we recently discovered that despite all of their "family, kid, and pet safe" marketing and using "natural products" they do use a lawn chemical (SpeedZone) for weed control (and that's essential apparently to the yard looking the way it does).

What are everyone's thoughts on here as far as lawn chemicals for dog owners?
 
I would proceed with caution. While the labels for herbicides typically state to let the product dry before allowing your pets (and kids) to roam on it (make sure you find out what exact product is being applied and read the label), the CDC says to wait at least 24 hours:

Do not let kids or pets play on or touch areas where weed killer has been applied until 24 hours have passed.
Click to expand...

There are some studies, such as this one in the Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, suggesting a link between some of the chemicals in commonly used herbicides and CML (Canine Malignant Lymphoma).

At our house - we let the lawn company do their thing in the front yard (where our pets don't roam), but in the back where they play all day, we stay herbicide free and have simply learned to live with some weeds (in exchange for peace of mind).
 
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Good advice Alex. We've started using Sunday lawn care per a reco in this post. I'll try and remember to post back here after we've used it for a while. One of our pups LOVES to eat grass, despite all of our training to try and get him not do to so. And after all, consuming grass is not by itself a health concern (in fact, as you point out in this article, it can be a good thing for digestion, etc.). Obviously, if the grass has been treated with herbicides, I'd be concerned.
 
Sunday lawn care looks like just what we need! I'm so glad that such an option exists today. Does anyone have any before/after photos you wouldn't mind sharing?
 
Alexa, you can find several photos Kimberly took during her testing of Sunday lawn care. Here's a comparison of her lawn before and after Sunday:

sunday-lawn-care-lawn-with-and-without-treatment-jpg.jpg
 
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