puppy wakes up too early!

Question
We have a 14 week old Golden Retriever puppy.  Every single morning he wakes up at 5am.  That is when he's ready to start his day.  Frankly, that's much too early.  Is there any way to get him to sleep longer?  Will this continue for years?  I would grealy appreciate any advice that you can offer.  Thank you!

Answer
Hello. Puppies wake up at several times during the late night and early morning to ask to be let outside....perhaps you can just let him out at 5 bring him back in and go back to bed? My last puppy(Boston terrier) used to wake us all up(me and my other dogs) at 6 or 7 am and she was ready to stay up and ready for breakfest and a romp in the yard. Since your puppy is over three months old he should be getting a bit better at holding his pee until you get up and may sleep longer before waking....but if he is allowed to drink alot or eat an hour before bed then he will need to wake you up early to go outside maybe more then once...cutting off all food and water(unless its very very hot outside) 1-2 hours before bed pervents the puppy waking so early also be sure he goes before you go to bed. If he is too ready to be up and play at five you will have to stick it out....you see he needs to go out at 5 and wakes you for it...but then he sees its daylight out and wonders why he is going to go back to bed so wants to stay up....an older dog sleeps in later as it doesnt need the 5 am potty break. My three dogs Labrado retreiver, Jack russell terrier and Boston terrier go out to pee right before bed I leave tehm for 5-10 minutes unless its rainy or very cold or there are alot of bugs and then they come in and if I go to sleep right away they fall asleep and not antoher peep is made until 7 am when my clock rings...we are so set in our regiem now that even after a hard weeks work and the clock isnt set we all wake up needing to pee at the same time.... 7 am! that is very strange I find. But if you follow my guidelines and can stick it out you should get along great with your new pup...after the puppy is fully housetrained and is fully grown and trained you understand why you went through everything you did...tore up trash/shredded books and magazines, chewed kids toys...chewed shoes and sandles, shredded tolite paper, vomit and pee and worse on the rugs and a pee burned lawn! because a well trained adult dog is the best companion one could ask for. I wish you luck with your new puppy and in all the years to come.