The first part of our poo mystery lies in the past. Thirty years back you couldn’t put your foot down in a park without crunching on the chalky excrement of man’s best friend. These crap fossils were the natural progression of any doggy treat and, left to their own devices, these dung debris turned into a non stinky crumbly feces bar. But while we weren’t watching the texture changed. No longer are the walk paths littered with these ghosts of Alpo past, now the turd de jour stays in it’s freshly formed stage.

But what is the cause of this changing of the poop guard?

This site theorizes that white stuff is only the result of Yorkshire Terriers.

The Scottish have written a play about it but fail to say if the mystery is resolved.

The British have a handy blog guide to those interested in white dog shit. One can only wonder how often they update and with what.

A poll at Bestandworst believes it's been phased out by affirmative action but gives no findings to back the idea.

So what is the truth behind this excremental enigma? Well after careful research it seems that the fine folks at the Naked Scientist may have a clue as to the disappearance of the ivory ichor.

To quote their forum post:

"The disappearance of white dog poo is down to what dogs eat these days.

White dog shit is the calcium left behind as the water evaporates, and the 'organic' components of the crap are consumed (in various ways) leaving the inorganic stuff behind.

But nowadays dogs don't eat as much bone as they used to, including bone meal. Also, tighter regulation on dogs crapping on pavements means that turds don't hang around for years in public places like they used to, giving them less opportunity to dry out and turn white."

While no test result are offered up it's seems safe to assume they are on the correct path..and I hope they are watching where they step.