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:

BETHESDA, Md. (WUSA) -- As Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci knows as much about the science of the flu -- its molecular makeup and patterns of transmission -- as just about anybody in the country. As the father of three young children not that long ago, he also knows a thing or two about just how easy the flu is to get, and give.

For the younger Dr. Fauci, as with many parents, it could very well have started with one of his kids sneezing or coughing on or near him.

"They would get a respiratory infection, they would come, and how do you resist hugging and kissing them? They would get respiratory secretions on your face and hands and then all of a sudden, you wake up one day and you say, I feel a little chilly," Dr. Fauci said.

“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.