🧵 4/4
Over time, it WILL grow out of the grass, like a bad haircolor job. So the faster your grass grows, the faster it leaves your yard.

Also check flowering trees and plants for any fungal issues. While the same "rust" fungus does not tend to infect them, if the weather conditions have been right for "rust," then they are often also right for other molds and fungi on your flowering plants and trees.

Most likely, the "rust" will NOT return the next year. We live in northern Illinois and have had three outbreaks over 28 years, two of them in the past five years (due to the changing climate and weather patterns). It blows in on the wind, so there is nothing you can do to prevent it from showing up in the first place.

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HOW TO TREAT THE GRASS:
Sadly, every lawn care company I've called offers the same treatment: "pay me to mow your grass more often." 🙄 Because really… that's all you can do, anyway.

It DOES go away on its own after 3-6 weeks (depending on weather), and it probably will not come back the next year.

Some things you can do to expedite the process:
* Fertilize and water the infected grass often to encourage growth, BUT only water IN THE MORNING, so the grass will dry out quickly. Being wet overnight encourages it to grow and spread.

* Mow often, but USE A BAG MOWER. You do not want to spread the fungus by spreading the lawn clippings. If you pay a lawn service, insist they use a bag mower on the infected regions and offer to pay a little more for bagging the grass.

* Mention it to your neighbors, especially the ones with dogs or outdoor cats. Most likely, they could be having the same experience.

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🧵 2/4
HOW TO TREAT YOUR DOG:
Stop letting the dog walk in that part of the yard. Find a place where there is no rust to take your dog to pee. (For us, the front yard was completely green, even though the back yard was badly infected. You might not need to go far.)

Do this until the rust disappears from the infected areas, which should be in a few weeks or so.

The itch should stop within a day or two of avoiding the rust. If not, wash paws thoroughly with pet shampoo. Using itch lotions can cause the rust to stay on the paws. Keep paws dry to open air.

You should also thoroughly rinse off paws every time they go out into the rust areas, if you have no other options for potty time. (I dip our dog's paws in a huge "county fair" sized lemonade cup for washing off mud etc., instead of using the full bathtub. This is also good for washing rust off of paws.)

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