Every holiday season, many people around the country get a new family gift that will last for the next 15 years or so. When they opt to add a puppy to the family, it may start out to be exciting, only to lead to numerous questions once the initial play-time wears off and it’s time to go to bed. Getting the right answers to those questions, however, can make a world of difference.

“Depending on where you get the answers to the questions, it can make a big difference in the relationship you create with your puppy,” explains Robert Misseri, president of Guardians of Rescue, an organization dedicated to helping animals in need. “You want to get things off to the right start and help everyone adjust well, so it is important to stick to a few basic guidelines to make it happen.”

Here are the top 10 tips for taking care of a new puppy, right from the start:

Each Christmas, there are children around America who unwrap a new, non-powder gun. These guns include BB, pellet, and paintball. While many parents may believe such guns to be harmless, and even see them as a toy, statistics suggest otherwise. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, over 20,000 injuries result from these types of guns each year, with four percent of them requiring hospitalization.

“These guns are not toys at all, and they can certainly do damage both to people and to animals,” explains Robert Misseri, president of Guardians of Rescue, an organization dedicated to helping animals in need. “In our line of work, we have seen it often – kids who shoot at animals just for fun, and leave them distressed and injured. These guns create problems that parents are not even usually aware of.”

Here are 5 tips for parents who may have a child with one of these non-powder guns, or who are considering getting one for them:

“Hobie (formerly Brinks) is just a darling. He sits, stays, shakes, and has a perfect ‘down,’ when not distracted, of course! He's learning to ‘fetch the paper’ and to ‘wait’ before charging through a doorway. He's playful, curious, very smart, and just a regular love. He loves big dogs, and now that he has his rabies vaccine, he is going to K9 Divine's farm two days a week, which is heaven for him. We also love exploring the woods behind our house and the Archbold Glover Trail. Hobie is now a part time lawyer and loves going to my husband’s law office.