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We have 2 big dogs! One is 75 and the other is 110 lbs! They were never really around kids much before we had DD. Didn't do much either to prep for her coming home. We just brought home a receiving blanket we used with her before we came home.

They have been great! So gentle with her, and not nervous at all. I think it helps letting them see your LO grow from the newborn stage and on. That way the baby is still immobile! I will say though, you cannot neglect them. Still go in plenty of walks and get them exercise! That is definitely key. Otherwise jealousy will come. It's so easy to incorporate LO in walks though with bringing a stroller with or carrier! Especially now when the weather is nice!

Also just to add, I agree walks every day so they don't feel neglected! My dogs had also not been around kids or babies much before.

We have a boxer and just took dd home on Saturday! We just make sure to let her sniff her a lot (no face licks) while giving her lots of treats. We make sure to still play and cuddle with a lot so she doesn't feel left out. So far it's been working well, although she does get a little bit jealous when we are paying more attention to the baby. Having visitors over helps a lot too.

Following! We have two big dogs and a baby due in September.

We have a large lab who is a rescue and has some anxious tendencies that did worsen as our son started crawling. Before that, he could care less about the baby. We introduced them by having our son in the bassinet and allowing him to sniff him with close supervision and didn't have any issues.

Once he was crawling and vocalizing, I think the movement and loud noises freaked our dog out and he growled a few times and even snapped. We quickly made a space that is only for the dog and kept them separated if one of us was not between them physically. This was essential when preparing meals or whatever when we couldn't watch them both like a hawk. We also used a vet behaviourist who said to never trust even the most gentle dog with being alone with baby, touching, pulling, etc. as they are animals after all and can react quickly.

Now he is much better as our son is walking. We allow our son to pet the dog but only with us holding him and controlling the situation. We include the dog in everything and let our son throw treats and food bits to him, lots of walks as a family to reinforce that the toddler is a positive thing that leads to food and outside fun time for our dog. We respect the dogs space and don't allow our son to grab him or get in his face ever, and the dog still has his bed and toys all to himself in our main family room so he can observe if he's being excitable (we tell him to go to his bed if needed) and a quieter spot in our room if he needs to get away.

Giving them their own space but also keeping them involved in a controlled way while sticking with their routine as much as you can is best I think. Plus getting out for walks and exercise keeps you from going stir crazy and is essential for the dog too! I felt very guilty to shift our attention away from the dog, but also annoyed at the extra responsibility with the dog but it has gotten much better with time.

My dogs do okay around them. They don't have any aggression. Which is good. My older and larger dog doesn't really care for the babies. I think she still might be a bit scared of them because if the babies crawl towards her, she'll move. My other dog is smaller and likes to lick so we do have to watch that dog and prevent him from licking the babies (faces, arms and legs).

My older bigger dog does bark every time someone comes to the door or comes cloes to the house. I was told the babies get used to the barking when they are inside the womb. When they were younger, sometimes they would sleep through the barking but sometimes the barking would startle the babies but they would go back to sleep.

Now that the twins are 9 months, and if the white noise machine is not on loud enough, the barking might wake one of them. They usually go back to sleep within 5 minutes. I do get mad at my one dog for barking but I understand why she barks and she's just being protective over some things that happened before the babies got here.

Oh, I brought home a hat from the hospital for the dogs to smell when they were born. My smaller dog ended up chewing the hat, which I heard is sometimes normal.

@milag64: for walks we either all go together and one of us has the stroller, one the dog, or we did some leash training with treats so he walks beside the stroller without pulling. I keep the treat in my hand and give to him when he walks beside me nicely (our dog is very food motivated though!) With two dogs I would consider a running leash around your waist maybe? So you have a more stable core control rather than your hands and arms being pulled

I have a 65 pound lab-Pit mix. She is very energetic. We set up the nursery in advance to let her sniff the baby's stuff. She was there when my water broke and I immediately went into active labor. She seemed to get it. A few hours later DH brought home a bloody receiving blanket. When we got home, I went in first to give her hugs and kisses and then we introduced the baby butt first. She sniffed and then ignored him until he cried. She has been fine with him, as long as he doesn't touch her. If he touches her, she glares and moves away.

We have an 80lb mix. He is fearful and anxious. However, by doing what others have already posted was a good way to transition him and introduce him to the new addition. My parents, who watched him, brought him DS's hat and blanket to sniff (he also chewed on the blanket - he was still a puppy). We made it so that he "found" the baby in our house (I think this is important) - we had him on the leash as we walked him to meet DS.. And he just 'knew" who this kid was. He also knew I was pregnant (both times) before anybody else did. He was also very young - about a year old at the time so his hyperness was in overdrive but he was/is very good with him. That's not to say that I just leave DS and the dog- I'm always there to make sure DS doesn't grab his tail (which he'll sometimes do) or the dog doesn't take to licking him in overdrive (which he'll do as well). If the dog or DS get too exited I remove one of them from the situation and take them to another room (or outside if it's the dog). Because he's a beast I can't walk him by myself so DH and I usually go after work or on the weekends. He would sit by me when I nursed or pump and we just hung out together when DS was sleeping. I have a pretty tight bond with him.

Big dogs are often better with babies and children. They are usually much accepting and adjusting to them. I volunteer with a animal rescue group and any family with kids they stress a big dog is better then any small dog.

Pretty much everything has been said. Try to get everything set up ahead of time to give the dogs a chance to check everything out before the baby arrives and to set up boundaries. Once the baby is born send someone home to give the dogs a chance sniff something of the babies first.

The only thing I haven't see anybody mention yet is to make sure your pups are well trained. They should know sit, down, off, leave it, drop it and stay. If your pup doesn't or needs some polishing on it get them in a class so they'll listen. Our newest dog just got his training done in April and got his Good Canine Citizen even! Our other dog we'd had longer and had done training though we've been working on revisiting several key points. (He doesn't do down well...)

I wish we could have brought home something from the hospital first to get our nervous lab mix used to our newborn's scent, but it just didn't work out. So the first interaction was stressful... Our dog had been staying at my sister's and came home all over excited. She saw my DH holding something weird, and when DS cried, she flipped out barking. She also wouldn't come near me that night. Sniffed me suspiciously then trotted away. It was rough! BUT by day 2 our dog was fine. She doesn't care at all about the crying, will come over and gently sniff the baby and lie down right next to his bassinet. I hope all stays peaceful and tolerant once he starts crawling!

@YogiRunner: our trip home got messed up, cause our crazy nurse didn't discharge us until 7 pm and so we got home in the dark. It ended up ok but it majorly stressed out postpartum hormanal me!