Talk to your vet about the best diet

When you have a new puppy joining the family, it can be overwhelming with the amount of information that is thrown at you. Puppies take a lot of time and care, and they don’t come with an instruction manual.

The best place for information about your puppy and how to care for it, is your local vet and their team. Book your puppy in for the allimportant vaccinations that will give him or her the immunity they need before they can experience the big wide world.

At the same time, make sure you ask any questions you have, there is a checklist at the bottom of this article with things to remember, although it doesn’t need to be restricted to these items.

Puppies grow fast: the majority of puppies complete their full growth in a span of one year compared with humans, who take 18 years to reach that point.

This means that nutrition during their first year of life is of utmost importance and ensures their bodies grow in a way that decreases the chances of problems further down the track.

Ensuring your puppy is on a goodquality, fully balanced puppy food that is appropriate for their breed and stage of life is critical.

Long gone are the days when dogs were just fed dog roll or scraps from the table.

Dogs are now an integral part of our families, have longer life expectancies and have developed far away from the “wolves” they descended from.

It would be amazing to see a chihuahua or a Maltese take down a deer or moose, but I just don’t think they have it in them.

Talk to your vet about the best diet that you can have your puppy on — something that is tailored to their needs in this critical time to give them the best chance at a healthy life.