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To: Jerry Olson who wrote (84243)	2/23/2000 10:14:00 PM
From: Ron	Respond to of 120523

Now for something REALLY different: Dog litter. Wonder if RAL will move on this: ST. LOUIS -- By day, Ronald A. Lewis II toiled in his lab at Ralston Purina Co., sharing the results of his research with almost no one. By night, Mr. Lewis, 28 years old, went into the laundry room in the basement of his suburban condominium and conducted further experiments on his pets, a miniature schnauzer named Bruce Wayne and a miniature dachshund named Selina Kyle. When friends visited, Mr. Lewis warned them not to go in the basement. Neighbors wondered why the dogs were so seldom seen outside. When anyone asked what he was doing at work, Mr. Lewis politely declined to answer. Now, at last, the secret can be revealed. Mr. Lewis and Ralston Purina have been working on a product that could fundamentally change the nature of pet ownership: dog litter. For 3 1/2 years, Ralston Purina researchers have been studying what they refer to as canine elimination behavior. They have come away convinced that dogs can and should be taught to behave a little more like cats. And they believe that humans will spend heavily to have house-trained canines and the freedom that comes with that. The company's new product, called secondnature, will begin showing up on grocery-store shelves in May, along with brief training manuals and specially designed litter pans. It is aimed primarily at small dogs in big cities. Ralston Purina hopes secondnature will prove as popular as cat litter, a $900 million-a-year industry with fat profit margins. Ralston executives imagine a world without pooper-scoopers, a world in which dogs wouldn't have to be walked in foul weather, where elderly people in high-rise apartments could have canine companionship even if they can't get out for walks, where single people would no longer need to rely on professional dog walkers.