A year and a half ago my niece had a baby girl. She was very concerned about how her dog would react when they brought the baby home because the dog was so attached to my niece. Well, they had nothing to worry about. The minute the baby came home the dog, a large mutt with mainly German shepherd in her lineage, decided she was the caretaker of this new addition to the family. She started to sleep under the baby's crib and if the baby cried and the parents were in another room, she would go to fetch them, to let them know there was something wrong.
When the baby started to walk, the dog helped her, and to this day they are the most loving companions, to the point that if the dog is not close by, Samantha becomes cranky. I think this is a marvelous relationship that will shape my great-nice's view of animals, particularly dogs, for the rest of her life.