A few months ago I asked you guys for ideas on how to help with the smell of our doggy bathroom area. It is an area about 8' x 8', and is just dirt with about 2 inches of pea gravel covering it. The smell's not bad in the cooler months, but once it warms up a little it's nasty. And the area is right outside a bedroom window (luckily not mine!!).

A few of you mid-westerners with barns and such suggested we use lime. I'm posting back to get some specifics on what kind. This is what we tried:
http://www.ebstone.org/11_agricultural_lime.php

This lime is in granule form (maybe 2 centimeters). We sprinkled a whole bunch of it all over the top of the gravel and worked it down, then watered well. It's been 5 days and the smell is no better. We have tried soaking it in vinegar, spraying it down with water several times a week, and we still have an odor we can't live with.

Am I using the wrong kind of lime? We've looked at Home Depot and other nurseries, but can't find anything else where we live. So I'm wondering if any of you have any knowledge of lime for this use and what kind, or any other suggestions that would help with this.

Thanks in advance!

There are some horse lime or stall deoderizers that might work better. Basically to neutralize the amonia oder in stalls. Don't recall what is exactly in them. I would read before buying, especially with a dog with allergies(any dog for that matter) to be sure that it is not harmfull in any way. Check out a feed supply (shaving, hay etc) store to see what is available in your area.

I've never used Lime, I could be wrong but I think the type you need is caustic and I remember reading it was not good for dogs to sniff up or something.

Hows the soil under your pea gravel look? The clay type soil will hold the urine and the smell gets reactivated everytime you water it.

You want hydrated lime. It's a powder form, the granular takes a lot longer to break down and get into the soil. Not sure about it being bad for the dogs per Steve's post but it wouldn't suprise me to find out that it is, but we never had any problems with using it. However the area I was using it in was much larger than your's and I only had to lime it a couple times a year.

Lisa

Pea Sweet - a product sold for horses
Ag Lime, Barn Lime - probably the same as what you bought, though it is usually a
fine white talcum powder, basically is just calcium, not dangerous
IMO these things work much better for horse and cow urine than carnivore urine which is way more concentrated and has a different PH too.
I don't have a solution for you. When my son's intact male bulldog lived here and peed on the shrubs around the house I thought it smelled to hi heaven.

Someone else in another post suggested Simple Green.

Have you tried 10% bleach? Odo Ban from Sams Club? Combo of both? Then there are the kennel disinfectants that dilute 256%. Once dried on they are inert.

Ok bare in mind this is just an idea. But when I used to ride we used shavings. I dont know if the area your talking about is covered but I know its alot easier cleaning shavings vs gravel. jmo

btw what are the pros and cons using pea gravel vs shavings with canines?

I would consider removing the pea gravel and putting down shavings. I prefer them mainly because when you clean the area, you can just throw them out with the poop, kind of like cleaning a litter box. You don't throw them all out at once, but over time you do have to add more as some is removed. And the regular rotation will help with the odor, since the shavings will absorb the pee. If you prefer the look of pea gravel, 2 inches really isn't enough, you should dig out the area and put in 6-8 inches worth, to improve the drainage.

I will also second the bleach/water or an odor control product. I spray down my dogs potty area on a regular basis with either/or. For the bleach I just put it in one of those hose attachment sprayers, the odor products from the pet store come in their own sprayer. Since the area is for pottying only, ie you aren't trying to grow grass there, you can really soak it good with the bleach, just let it dry before you put the dogs back out there. If that doesn't kill the smell, you may have to dig out some of the dirt, it's possible it's just so saturated you won't be able to kill all the odor.

Another nice benefit of the shavings is they will work down into the dirt, improving the absorbency of the soil, which means the deodorizers will get down into it better.

Finally, I'd verify that the odor is caused by just build up from repetitive use. If the odor is really strong every time your dog urinates, it's possible they have a medical issue.