Party and barking dogs, thoughts?

[that_crazy_lady]

I'm just a few weeks out from my daughters first birthday party. We are having a weenie roast.
We have a lot of dogs, but 3 of them have to stay penned up for their safety. One is my 6yo shepherd mix who minds very well. The other two not so much. My black mouth/heeler cross, and a catahoula/heeler mix. I know part of it is I haven't given them the one on one time they need.
Anyways their yard is right next to our frount porch, and they can see the whole area where the party will be. They tend to be wonderful guard dogs, I can often tell who is here by who is barking, and how. They also pick up on my emotions, so if I'd rather that person wasn't there, the dogs keep barking. Normally they quiet down on their own pretty quick, or respond to a soft "hush" or "that's enough".

However we have never had a party here, and the dogs will only know a few of the people that could be coming. I'm a little concerned they will get worked up and stay that way.
I do plan to have my husband and brother take them out for a run before people start showing up to take the edge off, they all listen better then too. One day I think they will do find, then I'm not so sure. I was thinking of getting some sedatives just to have on hand, but I've never used anything like that will my dogs before.
Any thoughts?

 

[Kelsie2290]

Are they crate trained, do you have crates for them? I agree that one or more of them deciding the party was a good excuse to bark its head off would be a nuisance. I'd also worry if they are together that somebody may get so worked up they start getting aggressive with each other. One problem with most sedatives is you really need to give them ahead of time, giving them to a worked up dog they often don't work reliably.