sleep in the am

Question
shitshu's - male/female (2)   10 years old- eat dry food and are indoor dogs
I feel them about 4:30-5 PM and let them out for a little whle in the yard.  I go to bed about 9:30 pm and they have been waking me up about 4:30-5am and I let them out..how can I get them back to sleep so I can sleep more.  I'm really getting exhausted at being up this early.  
(I'm sending this info in for a friend who had these dogs)  if you need more info, I can ask him

Answer
Hi, Louise. I'm assuming your friend is letting the dogs out sometime between 9:00 and 9:30pm to potty before going to bed. What time does he normally get up in the mornings? If the dogs are let out AT 9:30 at night, then they should not be made to 'hold it' past about 6:30am. That's 10 hours (during the day, they shouldn't be made to hold it past 8 hours). They might just not be able to physically hold it past 5:00am, though, and he will either need to go to bed later so he can let them out later, or just start getting up to let them out and then come back to bed. If his yard is fenced, installing a doggie door so they can go out when they need to might be a possible solution. If the dogs pester him and do not allow him to go back to sleep after being let out in the morning, he can either shut them out of his bedroom or crate them until he gets up.

If you need anything else, let me know.

Kristen