How long after our yard was sprayed for crabgrass do we need to keep our dogs inside?

Question

Our gardener told us he would be spraying the yard for weeds today (I think it's crabgrass) and that we will need to keep our dogs inside for a couple of hours. I planned to have them out today so we wouldnt even be home and they could run around elsewhere. He arrived at 7:30pm and sprayed the entire backyard, all over. He then told us we would need to keep our dogs inside overnight and not let them out until tomorrow. These are not house dogs, they go outside to pee and p**p. We thought it was going to be a couple of hours and now its all night! Im a little unprepared now and not sure what to do.

Should I just wait until it dries? Its very warm here...how long would that take? Can I take them outside on a leash supervised and wash their paws when we come back in? Or should we walk them out front instead? How many hours are we supposed to wait? Our instructions were incredibly vague.

Any help?

Answer 1

If it was a liquid application, they can go back outside after it dries. The only reason he told you to keep them in all night was because he did the application in the early evening. He was covering himself because it is cooler at night and he wanted to make sure that the chemical had dried before the dogs went back out. If it was done in the daylight hours, with the sun and humidity, it would only be about an hour at most for it to dry and more likely about 30 min. So yes, as long as it is dry, they can return to their normal backyard activities. Hope this answers your question...

Added Info....If your are able to make sure that the chemical is dry on the lawn in the dark, then they can go out. But the best thing would be to take them out front for just tonight.

...Billy Ray