I have got to do something about the dog waking the whole house up at 6am!!

[NewMeNewUs]

please help! I have posted about this in the past but at my whitts end now.
our 1 year old Labrador sleeps like a dream but wakes up barking ready for the day anytime from 5.15am! It wakes us all up including my 4yo and 6yo.
we ignore her until my alarm goes off at 6.30am then we go down. But she doesn’t stop! She sleeps downstairs and isn’t allowed upstairs.
our child’s parents evening tonight they voiced concerns as to my daughter being so tired and emotional at school the last month or so. And I am putting it down to the dog waking her up so early every day. It is also really getting to me and my husband. Any advice really appreciated thank you.

Where is the dog sleeping? Is it starting to get light at the time they are waking up. Dogs are very light sensitive so I would have them in a room with blacks out blinds / curtains

This worked for us. Set the alarm for 6.10 or just after she usually wakes up and starts barking. Then get up. Do this for a few days but don’t get up until the alarm goes. Then gradually increase the time the alarm goes off by 10 mins every couple of days. After 2 weeks, she should be waiting for the alarm to go off before she starts and then you can increase it by larger increments. Don’t ever get up until the alarm goes though.

You're leaving your dog to bark for over an hour at the crack of dawn every single morning? Please tell me you don't have neighbours at least 😩

What's the reasoning behind the dog not being allowed upstairs?

Put a dog bed on the landing.

What time do you put the dog to bed?
What time does she have her last meal?
How much exercise does she get?

All those things will influence when she wakes up and how loud she is. If you're putting her to bed early, giving her the last meal early and under exercising here then of course she'll be up early.

If, on the other hand, you're putting he to be at 11PM, having her last meal at 8PM and exercising her for 2 hours a day, then it's likely just loneliness. Which is much harder to fix.

But don't leave her barking for an hour. I'm a huge fan of leaving a dog to bark it out, but if she is genuinely doing it for an hour that can cause serious damage in the long term to her throat.

Someone slept downstairs on the sofa until DPuppy was happy to be alone overnight

It took months - sorry, not what you want to hear - but she’s now perfectly happy sleeping on the sofa (to the extent she now stares balefully at us if we’re still up but she wants to go to bed)

Probably wants to go out for a wee. We put a dog flap in. Never be without one now.

Our dogs sleep upstairs in their own beds,they are 10 , 8 and 12 months

They wake up when we do.

This morning we had a day off and we didn't set an alarm we slept in until 8.45 unheard of ever.
All the dogs asleep still . My 12 month old pup has a microwave pet heat pad and extra Sherpa fleece blankets as he is still a baby.