Question
My husband and I planted 3 climbing roses last spring that did very well and produced beautiful flowers all summer.  Upon inspection this spring, it appears that they are dead!  Our new neighbors let there dog urinate on all of our plants and the rose bushes are just outside their door.  We noticed that some of our boxwoods and arborvites are dying or have dead areas because the dog urinates on them too.  Just wondered if dog urine will kill roses and if there is anything we could have done to prevent them from dying, except of course find more responsible neighbors!!!

Answer
Dog urine is kidneys getting rid of nitrogen. A little can actually act as a fertilizer but a lot or constant is too much as it acts like a fertilizer overload and will burn the roots which of course kills them. I would scratch the lower canes to make sure the roses are dead and if there is any green showing then water, water, water to try and flush out the dog urine. The problem with dogs using an area as a marker, even if you put down something that is strong smelling to discourage the dogs, many times they just keep using the spot to try and get rid of  what they consider another animals scent on their territory.