Dog Waking Early morning madness

My 9 month old lab wakes at sunrise and runs around outside whining to get my attention. If I don't let her inside she chews anything she can get her teeth into and destroys plants. If I let her in, she is happy to sleep. Should I chain her up when I put her to bed or is there a better way to teach her to wait patiently until I appear at a reasonable hour?

 

Hi @Kevin Cousins

Welcome to the forum.

I let my dog sleep inside on her own bed the entire night. She wakes about 7.15. She has access to most of the house. She waits at the top of the staircase for me to getup and say morning. After breakfast she moves rooms so that she can bask in the morning sun. Her name is Shadow. So a Shadow in sunlight.

When i was a boy our Lab slept outside. As an adult all of my Lbs have slept inside. Shadow is asleep on her bed as I post my experience. She is snoring. All is well.

 

Can you let your dog inside your house @Kevin Cousins? Labs are social animals and love company so it may be she just wants to be with you.

If you chain her you risk her hurting herself by pulling and pulling and it may be difficult for her to get comfortable to sleep with a chain on, sounds like a bad idea to me.
But also, the chain won’t stop her waking early nor whining.

 

When I was a child our neighbour's dog hung herself by trying to escape her garden while chained so I don't think that sounds like a good idea. as @Plum's mum says it also wouldn't solve the problem as she could still whine and probably howl til you got out of bed to let her in. If she has to be an outdoor dog then she needs a proper kennel with a secure run and you and your neighbours will need earplugs!

 

Please keep your dog inside. Dogs are social animals and like to be near us. Their stress levels (as measured by cortisol in their blood) are much lower just through being in the same room as us, even if not interacting with us. They are hard-wired to have relationships with people and being isolated and removed from the family causes stress responses which actually mimic physical pain in terms of blood markers....