Damaged Lawn from Pets.. needing help
 

I live in Rhode island and had a great lawn untill my huskys ruined it. this year im not allowing them to go on the lawn just in the woods. i need help/ steps to take on how to repair. some spots are still in good shape others are spotty and some is just now dirt. i was reading and saw some steps to take. please correct me and give me your ideas. i am going to cut my lawn to 1.5 to 2 inch long. then aerate then i was going to powerake ( to make cuts in my lawn) then seed then powerake again but in the other direction then seed again. then water. what do you think. also whats the differnce between a power rake and overseeder?

I'd lightly till the dirt areas, then fertilize and seed. Then lay down straw/hay. water on days it doesn't rain. That sound like way too much work to get grass to come back. Aerating is something I do every other year.

An aerator would be best, I wouldn't even power rake. Just be sure you use the aerator a few times so you have 10 or so holes per sq. ft. Then seed and drag something over, like old carpet or chain link to break it up a bit. Mulch with straw and you are set. Tilling isn't the way to go since you have some good places, the aerator will not destroy that.

aerator sounds good to me

Personally I would dig out the damaged areas and replenish them with a good quality seeding top soil. I've found that the urine that is still in the soil should be removed for optimal/quicker results.

Sorry for reviving the old post...

From a natural standpoint...you want to increase the number and health of the nitrifying bacteria in the soil. This will help with the urine spots as the nitrifying bacterie quickly convert deadly urea and ammonium to healthy nitrates.

You can achieve this by using organic fertilizers which contain nitrogen that is bound up rather than free (bone meal, even cheap dog food if you don't have problems with other animals, etc). This will force an increase in nitrifying bacteria to maintain the equilibrium in the micro ecosystem that is your lawn. Expect delayed results from organic fertilizers (up to 3 weeks) and water them in.