This is not rocket science although some folks will make you feel like it is
it is pretty simple.... It would help to have a clue as to the make up of breeds for your two furkids.. Herding breeds will have different attitudes than guarding breeds etc...
So first thing first , RIGHT NOW, make sure the dogs have basic obedience training ...PERIOD. You give a dog a job and it can relax and be happy, even if the job is sit stay.... they know they are expected to do for the pack.
If your dogs are not crate trained Do It NOW. Why ? They need to be happy with a den when you haven't enough time to deal with them and I guarantee you with a baby there will be "times" .....
If you suddenly slap them in crates because baby came home they will not adapt easily. If you start now they willl accept this is good time and place stuff, for example my pack of 9 are fed only in crates, they rush through the back door like a stampede of wild ponies to put themselves in in their own crates, they each have one, I have several extra and they do not go to the wrong crate. Once in they sit or wiggle until their food dish is put in. Doors are shut and they are going to bein there for an hour or more. I also crate at meal times for the family. With 5 kids in the house from 2 to 8 yrs I don't want the dogs stealing or the kids getting over on me by passing the brussel sprouts to a Ridgeback that will then have killer gas !!
I just mentioned my 5 , all were born into a household of dogs that had never seen a baby up close. All were cherished by the pack to an awesome level. The first was a preemie and sooo teeny tiny he was at his first dog show at 12 days old. When his SIDS monitor would go off we quickly notciced the RRs paying attention , with in a week they would station themselves at crib side in shifts, and when he would begin to fall deeply asleep they would get up and nudge him breaking the probability of a SIDS incident. They got so good at it the monitor rarely went off and we decided the baby did not "need" it...on New Years Eve 1999 we had crated the dogs as the Hubs and I were going out early and the daughter would be going out later... no one was there when he stopped breathing... my daughter found him blue as a smurf and thankfully I was able to resucitate him, he is the 8 almost 9 year old in our home. Trust your dogs !!
Jasmine my foundation girl would often place herself in the next baby's crib to snuggle close , this was a shock to find she had sproinked in to the tall crib never touching a hair on the baby's head she was about 70 pounds! She is 13 now and still must accompany the kids when they play in the front unfenced yard.
You will begin to baby proof your home and this is a good time to teach your two furkids to respect baby gates, My packs laughs as they hurdle over them.
If you have friends with kids start taking the dogs around them, get them used to the weird way adults talk to babies, higher pitched and goofy. And this may seem silly to a Military man but Ask the dogs " Hey you want Momma and Me To get You one of these??" Talk TO them about the baby , get them used to hearing you and the emotion that is in your voice as you think about the child you are bringing home. I firmly believe dogs listen not simply to certain words but to the emotion in your voice and body.
Now here is the next most important thing to understand ...dogs will be dogs. They will tear up dirty diapers and eat baby poo eeeooww
They do not "get it " that you will be angry when they do so to avoid this make sure you have a rock solid plan for dirty diapers!! And baby bottles or pacifiers all obviously good chew toys Hey you keep giving to the new kid !! Don't sweat small stuff like dog hair or spit on the baby BELIEVE me by the time the kid id 18 he will have been into MUCH worst things!! In our house Dog hair is both a fashion accesorry and a condiment at times...
a spit up on onesie is simply dirty laundry to you , your fur kids may find it fascinating.
You may think , hmmmm orderly household, things well run how tough will this be??
pardon me a moment ROTFLMAO...... sigh... but seriously I am from a military family and my mother could not bear the thought of ever giving away our dalmation Suzie, she was snuck onto more Navy Bases than you could imagine !! My mom would bake treats for the MPS and shamelessly bribe them into looking the other way when Suzie needed a walk... there were 6 of us kids but Mom managed to hang on to our four legged sibling till she passed from old age.you ALWAYS have to have a Plan B.... especially being Active military, DO NOT Leave it all up to your wife to sort out should you deploy, that baby comes first and then the dogs and that pressure can wreck a marriage.
Before the baby comes home make sure the dogs understand the nursery is NOT off limits. IF you want them to give their life for your child they must feel he is part of their pack. You tell them " Dad expects YOU to help take care of the baby " tell them "This is YOUR baby too!" Make sure DW is onboard.... as her pregnancy developes her furkids will know, they can hear that extra heart beat , they can feel the movement, when they come close for a snuggle. Dogs included in the process will bond. Dogs excluded will go on with their own lives....
Dog proofing the baby is a piece of cake BUT baby proofing the dogs takes more work. We take Tremendous Pride in knowing No puppy EVER leaves our home afraid of kids. from first breath on there are toddlers in the whelping box and holding , handling pups. the KIDS are taught to respect the dog. We recently brought a pup home to train for one of our existing families , he will be added to the 8 1/2 year olds kingdom. He was NEVER exposed to kids as a pup so at 3 months he was terribly frightened of everyone new. Blew my mind, simular pedigree several shared relatives all excelled with children, and here is a scardy cat who growled and grumbled every time the kids came near. With patience and awesome grandkids after 3 months he is finally pretty cool with them. He knows where kids are coolies and crumbs are likely to follow... He will go to New York city later this year and be as bomb proofed as possible...he will have attended endless soccer and softball games , stood in front of wal mart to listen to the chaos and lear n to relax and trust the leash. My grandkids know the only capital offenses in our home are simple play with fire, be mean to a dog. This is not a loss of privelage this will be Grandpa and a spanking. Everything else is negociable.
Right now your entire world is changing and Thankfully you are bright enough to know it. IF you want a successful transition seriously think about some of this advice ..... one more thing when I told you to trust your dogs I really meant it. My kids were Junior Handlers in the show ring we realized the younger one had a drug problem not because she acted out or was ever seen stoned but because the dogs would NOT work for her. They do not simply offer you comfort when alone , or protection from the things that go bump in the night they can save your life, my 13 year old is a self taught seisure alert dog and has gotten me off the road several times before I had medication related seizures. Had she not done so I would have been driving and the damage could have been horrific ! Another of our pups followed his young 4 year old master into the woods of his paternal grandfather's 300 acre estate, helicopters could not spot him and tracking dogs were called out. For the dog to have followed the boy he had to scale an 8 foot kennel , but he stuck like glue to Derreck's side until the sheriffs found them and then stayed inbetween them until the parents arrived NO ONE was touching his boy ! Another alerted for two and half weeks on his Dad's face , finally the owner a second generation RR owner stopped by to ask me "why?" I talked with him and being a retired RN I asked him to call his wife, on the phone with her I asked when his last physical had been "ohhh ages ago" she responded I said PLEASE MAKE HIM GO TO THE DOCTOR. She took my advice and he went, two days later had a quadruple bi pass the doctors called it a "Widow Maker" Silent and deadly only the dog knew his dad was in trouble. Zeke rules the roost at that house, he is spared no comfort and denied nothing !
Having a dog in your child's life is important for a million reasons, learning to share, to behave , to understand unspoken emotion and even more at some time in the future dealing with the loss of a furry sibling. Children who experience this understand life on a basic and normal level. They cope better going through life then people who have never dealt with a loss. Never tell your child "Spot went to a farm to play " let them see and understand the finality of death , allow them to grieve, they will be better people for it.
If you EVER have a question please email me , I seriously doubt ANYTHING could come up that I have not dealt with in 27 + years in this breed and after always having a dog in my life. When I did not have small kids in the house I rented them ! Anything to make sure My Dogs would be the best Ambassadors for my breed. You can check out my rather photo heavy profile for snaps of the grand kids with the Ridgebacks. There is one in there of Jasmine in the Crib with baby Bobby !
Best of Luck to you and your Wife !!
Bonita of Bwana