Many a conversation or debate has been discussed within my team at work. Now you might think to yourself how interesting a conversation between a bunch of recruitment consultants within an investment bank can be. Take my word for it, they can get quite weird and usually ends up with me trying to figure out the intellectual boundaries that are around these people.

• The case of "Do spiders drink water?" from Sandra unfolded into into "Do spiders drink water from your mouth while sleeping?"
• The case of "I hate certain words!" from Toby unfolded into a blatant disregard of combining everyone's words into "Like Tight Moist Panties" and making the entire office reel in disgust
• The case of "Why does my swimming cap leave a mark on my forehead" from Cheryl turned into me calling her a "Fathead" all day long because I convinced her head was growing and she needed a new cap.

Today's topic was one that had me wondering. Most times I can make an educated guess on the answer and come to some realistic logic, sometimes with the aid of the almighty Google. But this time I was dumbfounded. Where has all the white dog poo gone?

It's strange that, I remember cranking up the lawn mower and aiming for a line of those ivory nuggets my dog's had left me. You would push the lawnmower a good few metres ahead of you just to see the cloud spring up to envelope all with the familiar sound of dried shit hitting blade (much like a pffft sound). I never did mind the white dog shit, picking it up was easier then what usually came out the rear of most beloved canines. I realise now why the hell did I have to go out into that damn lawn to pick it up in the first place, especially when the dog was marking it's own area most times away from any walking zone. But I suppose, the one chance you think you have overcome not stepping in shit, you decide to walk bare foot to get the clothing off the line. It's Murphy's Law.

So I was humbled to find no easy solution to this unexplained exodus. I Googled and Yahoo'd to find no expert opinion about said subject, only educated guesses. Good ones too, ones that you would take a person's word for if you asked them. But I was not swayed by hundred's of internet forum's littered with this unexplained phenomenon, this bizarre unanswered question, the demise of a cultural heritage conspiracy. Answers evolved from calcium overdosage to social trends, I kid you not. The evolution of a dogs social trend is a bizarre read.

It was not until I came across an article by Sarah Hartwell regarding Cat Food Uncovered in 2003. Yes my usual reading pleasure for the evening was drowned out by the rendering processes of pet food around the world, what really goes into that putrid dish you serve and which country has the better food label; http://www.messybeast.com/cat-food-industry.htm

But yet I only found part of this unexplained answer;

...The increase in vegetable protein (within pet food) is dramatically seen in dogs - the characteristic white dog turds of yesteryear are rarely found; they were caused by weathering of dog excrement rich in bone meal...

I dug deeper and found this from AlternativePetHealth.com - http://www.alternativepethealth.com/canine-diet.html

...Hey, there's even a "Raw Meaty Bones Lobby Group" in Australia, led by a veterinarian! They amusingly "advocate" "chalky white dog poo" (and cat poo) - the natural (and unstinky!) result of a natural canine or feline diet. And they advocate the importance of raw meat and bones as being the mainstay of the canine and feline diet....

So I had to track down Raw Meaty Bones Lobby Group. They were not just limited to Australia, they're worldwide now. Spreading the white poo gospel with pooper scooper in hand.

http://www.aussiermb.org.au/ - Australia
http://www.usrmb.net/ - United States
http://www.ukrmb.co.uk/ - United Kingdom

But this got me way off track and I was reading more about dog's health, the poop report website and about why I liked the smell of puppy dog breath so much. Still I was yet to find the elusive mad professor, veterinary report, or some lucky prick that got a government grant to research the honest truth. The answer to the question we all were looking for I suppose and that was - why were they white in the first place. Then by chance I came across this science forum. It was a mixture of both types of answers which I had found (oh and I found some bizarre ones too). http://www2b.abc.net.au/science/k2/stn/archives/archive53/newposts/450/topic450934.shtm

There are a couple of reasons why dog faeces might appear white. In the past, dog used home prepared foods which might have contained pieces of bone. Bone can cause all sorts of problems to dogs - from chipped teeth to scratched oesophagus. They can cause salmonella and constipation - forming a cement in the small intestine. Bone is also white so any chips in the faeces can make it look white. Today dog owners prefer to use a prepared food with a milk based calcium source so there are no bone flakes to make it appear white. The other reason for dog faeces turning white when left on the pavement is that mould starts to grow on it turning it white. The mould - a yeast takes about 3-4 days to grow and these days town and city councils tend to clean the streets more quickly than they used to, removing the faeces before the mould turns it white.

It's funny the things you remember from years passed disappear. There are many things we all take for granted, but yet were a part of our lives no matter how bizarre. We all remember the days of yesteryear with blissful amusement but society considers our future as a bleak landscape. Hopefully somewhere out on the horizon it has still got room for our canine's toiletry diets though.