climbing stairs and sleeping

Question
I adopted a 5yr old Bison Poodle mix from the human society and have had him for 6 mo. He is a wonderful dog and was very well trained. The women ho had him before us was 83 and had to go to a nursing home because of her health. The only two things we are having problem with are that he will not go up or down stairs (he sleeps upstairs with us every night) and he wants to get up every morning at 5:00AM. I am retired and would appreciate any tips on how I could correct these problems so I wouldn't have to carry him up and down all the time and it also would be nice to be able to sleep in once in a while.

Answer
Elders often live in one story homes, so the dog may not ever have learned about stairs.  Instead of starting at the bottom and expecting him to go all the way up, try carrying him almost to the top, then lure him up the last one or two stairs with a piece of chicken or other luscious treat.  Make it worthwhile for him to attempt to overcome his fear!
As to the time, dogs are creatures of habit.  Try to feed him a bit earlier in the evening, get him outside one or two more times before bedtime, and see if you can get him to wait a minute or two longer each day.