Getting a new puppy is a tiny bit like having a new baby. There’s suddenly a new addition to the family – one that needs constant care, aeons of sleep, and is prone to waking its parents in the middle of the night with plaintive cries – around whom everything suddenly revolves.

And, like any new parents, puppy owners are naturally anxious to give their little one the best possible start in life. It can feel a little overwhelming, but a few simple principles can get things on the right track from day one.

Make sure your puppy gets enough sleep

First of all, sleep: it turns out they need an awful lot of it, advises Cat Henstridge, widely known as ‘Cat the Vet’. “Puppies sleep an extraordinary amount; between about 18 and 20 hours a day,” she says. That sleep needs to be undisturbed and good quality for their health – “it’s important for growth and brain development and learning” – whereas if they get overtired, they’re likely to be cranky and start acting out. “A lot of what we perceive as bad behaviour in puppies is often due to the fact that they’re not getting enough sleep,” Cat adds.

Creating good sleep hygiene is key. Cat’s top tips include being respectful of your puppy’s sleep by leaving them alone when they’re slumbering, rather than disturbing them; ensuring they have a designated safe sleeping space they can go to, such as a crate; and learning to recognise when they’re overtired and in need of some more shut-eye.

Another fundamental piece of the puzzle lies in understanding the biological changes that puppies undergo and how to support them.

In the early stages, one issue to be aware of is the immunity gap. When a puppy initially feeds from their mother, they are drinking colostrum. “The mother is essentially sharing her immune system with the baby,” Cat explains. “She gives them immune protection via her milk.”

As the puppies mature, during their first six to eight weeks, that immune protection starts to wane while their own immune development isn’t fully developed yet. “There’s this point where they are more vulnerable, when their immune system is learning about the world and learning how to protect itself,” Cat says. “That’s the immunity gap and that’s what we work really hard to minimise and support during early development.”

Recommended diet for your dog

One option is a diet enriched with colostrum, such as Purina Pro Plan Healthy Start, as it “has been shown to help support gut health and immune development in puppies”.

Some studies suggest colostrum may help support immune responses following vaccination.

More broadly, balanced, robust nutrition can be hugely impactful in supporting a puppy’s immune development — around 70 per cent of all immune cells are located in the gut. “What that means is that’s where a lot of the lymph nodes and lymph tissues, the places where your white blood cells, your body’s defense mechanisms reside,” clarifies Cat. “Having good gut health really does positively impact on good immune health, and the way to have good gut health is to have good nutrition.”

Another crucial function of nutrition is to support puppies’ growth. Medium and large breed dogs have got “an enormous amount of growing to do in that first year,” advises Cat. Some can go from 500g to 50kg within the first 18 months. “We want them to grow slowly and steadily and healthily,” adds Cat, “So it’s really important that puppies are fed nutrition that’s specifically tailored to their body size and breed. Purina Pro Plan, for example, produces specific diets for small and mini, medium, large athletic and large robust dogs.”

Supporting healthy growth for puppies boils down to a diet that’s balanced: good quality animal and plant proteins that are highly digestible and support muscle growth; adequate levels of fat to aid with skin, coat and brain development; carbohydrates for energy. Feeding your puppy adequate fibre is essential for their gut microbiome health, too.

Purina Pro Plan is enriched with omega-3 fatty acids

Essential healthy fats should also be a priority. “We should definitely be looking for diets like Purina Pro Plan that are enriched with omega-3 fatty acids like DHA and EPA, because they play an important role in brain development and may help support learning,” recommends Cat. She says studies have suggested puppies fed omega-3 enriched diets may show improvements in learning and memory tasks.

Speaking of training, when should it start? Right from the jump, according to Cat. “It’s never too early to start doing some recalls to teach them their names, to help them to learn to sit and to stay and to wait when you ask them to,” she says. “What you’re doing when you first get your puppy is building the bond; you’re building the trust; you’re creating that secure attachment. Your puppy needs to know to trust you and be in a partnership with you – and so really simple training and interactions right from the start are always helpful.”

How to socialise your pet and help them feel secure outdoors

Finally, socialising your puppy in the right way will have a massive impact on their wellbeing.

It’s all about calm, organised, secure introductions. “The aim of socialising is to normalise the world and help them cope – we don’t want to overwhelm our puppy,” stresses Cat. After a few days of letting them settle in and get to know their new immediate family, gradually introduce different humans – particularly children, if possible, so that they can get used to the fact that kids often behave more erratically than adults.

Cat’s number one tip when introducing pups to the big wide world is to get a puppy papoose for taking them out and about — before they’ve had their vaccines, puppies aren’t allowed to go on the ground outside. “It’s really helpful for them to see the world from a safe space and at a bit of a distance,” she says. “It means that, regardless of the size of your puppy, you can carry them in a way that they feel secure.”

Ultimately, if you support your puppy’s health and well-being through developing a good sleep routine, feeding them a nutritious diet of high-quality puppy food, and building a secure attachment through spending time together, training, and safe socialisation, you can’t go far wrong.

Find out more about pet nutrition and start supporting your pet through all stages of their lives today.