LITTLE BUDDIES HOW TO PREPARE YOUR PET WHEN A NEW BABY ARRIVES.(SERIES: Daily Dose)(CNY)

Byline: Gina Chen Family Life editor

Before Sarah Musselman's daughter, Ava Grace Withey, was born, she got her dog, Max, ready.

She showed him gifts that came in the mail for the soon-to-be born baby. And while Musselman and Ava were still at the hospital, her fiance, Jess Withey, brought home a cloth that Ava had slept with and let Max, a boxer, sleep with it.

Musselman isn't sure Max understood what they were doing. But he has been gentle and welcoming to Ava, who is now 7 months old.

"I think a lot of people have misconceptions of boxers," says Musselman, of Lyncourt. "He's been great with our daughter." Bringing home a newborn or adopted baby to a home with pets can make parents a little nervous. They don't know how the dog or cat will react, and they want the meeting to …

LITTLE BUDDIES HOW TO PREPARE YOUR PET WHEN A NEW BABY ARRIVES.(SERIES: Daily Dose)(CNY)

Byline: Gina Chen Family Life editor

Before Sarah Musselman's daughter, Ava Grace Withey, was born, she got her dog, Max, ready.

She showed him gifts that came in the mail for the soon-to-be born baby. And while Musselman and Ava were still at the hospital, her fiance, Jess Withey, brought home a cloth that Ava had slept with and let Max, a boxer, sleep with it.

Musselman isn't sure Max understood what they were doing. But he has been gentle and welcoming to Ava, who is now 7 months old.

"I think a lot of people have misconceptions of boxers," says Musselman, of Lyncourt. "He's been great with our daughter." Bringing home a newborn or adopted baby to a home with pets can make parents a little nervous. They don't know how the dog or cat will react, and they want the meeting to …