What's in a dog's breakfast?

We know that we are what we eat, but what about our furry home companions? Chatting with a visiting pet nutritionist, John Landrigan discovers that what goes into Vegas, stays in Vegas.
Roto-Vegas has a distinctive smell, but don't expect me to bend down and take a woof ... I mean, whiff.
Roto-Vegas is a buzzy black labrador puppy named for Rotorua's SPCA, where he was found.
He is healthy, curious and - according to a visiting American pet nutritionist - has a fetching, healthy smell that people can't get enough of.
Dr Jill Cline should know. She is considered an expert in what is secreted from the skin of puppies just like Vegas.
"The smell appears to come from the diet when puppies are with mum."
Makes sense. What goes in influences what comes out ... that's nutrition 101.
But Dr Cline also helps to research the dietary needs of ageing cats and dogs, showing that longer, healthier lives are possible through continuing good diet.
New research, she says, shows senior dogs and cats suffering the effects of old age can regain some of their youthful energy and mental function from the right diet.
She also monitors obesity rates, estimated to affect around 30-40 per cent of New Zealand's furry companions.
"I'm interested in nutrition because it's amazing how small levels of minerals affect animals throughout their entire lives."
Dr Cline owns five dogs and can apparently tell a healthy pet from an unhealthy one by looking at it. I decline the offer to give Vegas a sniff and brush him off my notepad, instead.
"The first thing I see is if the coat looks shiny," she says, "then their bright eyes and body condition."
Dr Cline has visited 42 countries in the past five years to spread the gospel of pet health and nutrition. She's a senior nutritionist for Purina PetCare in the US, one of the biggest global pet food companies, and this week visited Auckland for the ninth time.
"I wanted to work with healthy animals. We can increase their life span by 15 per cent just by diet and exercise."
Is there a difference between American and New Zealand pets?
"New Zealanders tend to have more cats and keep them outside. In America, they are considered low maintenance indoor animals. You also have more working dogs."
Vegas is working right now, too. Today he is the pin-up dog for tucking into his food.