Dogs are pack animals and they have to know their place otherwise its chaos! Theyve been the only things below you and your partner in the pack for a long time and now your daughter is here and she is higher than them. They are probably confused and a bit jealous maybe. It sounds like they are just trying to adjust. Unfortunately its hard when theyve had run of the house and then this little being comes along and they dont anymore. We've had a similar issue; we have 3 small children and have just got a new puppy. She see's the boys as litter mates more than higher on the pecking order than her so we've had a few issues with nipping and such. We're having a hard time trying to make her understand that human children come before furry ones. It helps we have two kids that can talk so they are learning commands and teaching her who is boss by being dominant.
Have you thought about maybe consulting a dog trainer for some tips? Theyd be able to help you with some strategies.
Some things I learned over the years with regards to making sure that you dogs respect you as the 'pack leader' is to only acknowledge them on YOUR TERMS...not theirs. If you don't want to pat them, don't....if THEY want you to pat them and shove themselves on you, and you don't want to, then turn your back and walk away from them. Dogs don't speak english, they speak DOG....so it's about body language. The tiniest things, like making sure you eat before they do, only paying attention when it's instigated by you, using more body language than words to correct behaviours can really help. I guess have them know basic commands too like sit, drop etc helps.
My Dog also had free reign on the house, and he continued to once DS was born. Charlie is happy with attention, but also happy without attention, and I think that is the key.
Luckily having two of them means at least they have eachothers company.
I read a book called 'The Dog Listener' by Jan Fennel which I really liked the approach of too.
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