Early rising Ddog

[margottenenbaum11]

Ddog has taken to waking anytime from 4am. Shes always been an early riser but it used to be 5.30 - 6ish which was manageable. For background she's about 7, came to live with us from rescue at age 3 and has always been very anxious and reactive, one behaviourist we saw said she was the most anxious dog he'd ever seen. She sleeps in a soft snuggly bed with blankets by my side of the bed.

We have tried:

Feeding her earlier / later
Yucalm
Putting her straight back in her bed when she wakes (won't stay even though she's normally very obedient)
Walk before bed (not enjoyable for anyone as she hates lead walking)
More routine in her day
Tiring her out with brain games and scentwork
Bedtime biscuits
Pyjamas (disastrous, she hates clothes and freezes like a statue when you put them on her, won't sit, won't lie down)
More blankets in case she's cold - just kicks them off

She doesn't even need a wee when she gets up I think she just wants company, if you get up and settle her on the sofa with a cuddle in a blanket she goes back to sleep.

I genuinely think allowing her to sleep on our bed would resolve it - I think she just wants comfort, but DH absolutely will not have it. He's really soft with her over everything else but it's a no go for him. Putting her in another room to sleep so she can't wake us up also wouldn't work, she would find it really distressing.

Covid hasn't helped as Lockdown has changed our routine and I'm now WFH so the markers in the day of taking me to the station and picking me up in the car with DH have disappeared, and obvs we cannot go far so our 'big' off lead walks have all but stopped for now.

Any clever ideas anyone?!

Also meant to say the amount of exercise she gets doesn't seem to help...if she's tired from a long walk or off lead run she just sleeps more in the day, her wakeup time doesn't change

What happens if you just ignore her? Does she bark/whine/scratch or will she eventually settle again?

Mine sometimes wakes up early and wanders about, but if I just ignore him, he gets fed up after a few minutes and goes back to sleep.

Alternatively, does she need the toilet or could she be hungry? What time do you feed her before bed and when is her last walk/toilet break?

Sorry op this won't be helpful but we had a similar problem but ours was in a baby pen at the bottom of the bed, as soon as we let him sleep on the floor he would sleep through till about 4 then jump up on our bed and will sleep until we wake up. He is small though and we have a super king so we don't even know he is there.

We had a problem when our dog was younger and the clocks changed.
He already knew the 'shh' command as had used it for when he would go ballistic at the door bell.
I used it again for the early morning rising. Would open the door a crack and say shh. Extended the time by about 5 mins every day and gave him treats when he did get up.
He gets up when we get up now.
He sleeps in a dark room on his own so that helps.

We've got an early riser too. At best he wakes around 6.30, at worst it's 4am. I think he also just wants company. We've been letting him out in the garden to go to the loo and then putting him back in his bed downstairs with varying degrees of success. Sometimes he'll settle for another 30 to 60mins, other times he barks constantly. I'm like you and would let him come on our bed as I know he'd settle and we'd all get more sleep. My DH is also a firm no on this too. Sorry, no advice really, but you have my sympathy.