There is this common misconception about dog ownership that has something to do with having to get up early.
I heard it in multiple contexts. From people who are wary of getting a dog because they will have to get up early every day of the year, even on Christmas. From clients who proudly declare that they have things under control: their dog is awake at 5am but they sooo got it. From by-passers who look at me walking my dog and, after complimenting on her behaviour, proclaim that it must be so hard getting up early every day. I even see this thread in dog commercials; you know, where the pup is jumping on white sheets with dirty feet while the unsuspecting owners are still asleep (laundry detergent commercial, anyone?).
The stereotype is so strong that many people getting a dog are prepared for the early-morning hardships they are about to sustain. After all, puppies are like babies, right?
This is so not right. A dog will wake up then and only then when its people are ready to communicate and interact with it. If your pup—and I am not talking about literal puppies, who need to go out early for potty-training purposes—woke up at 5am and received some interaction with you, you just managed to positively reinforce the waking-up-early habit. It might be a grumpy kind of interaction, where you get up and let them out only to go back to bed several minutes later. It could be a happy interaction, where you praise them for not peeing inside. Whatever it was, by waking up and interacting with the dog you are giving them feedback the essence of which is “I am available.”
If this waking-up pattern continues to go unchecked, you may start to notice that your dog becomes seriously unhappy when you decide to sleep in. They may become more persistent and creative at waking you up, and this might not be very pretty.
How to deal with it? Stop encouraging habits that you are not comfortable living with. Of course, if you are an early-morning person, by all means, do get up with your dog.
However, if you like to sleep in on weekends, begin interaction with your dog when you are ready, and not when they demand it. There are multiple ways to achieve the desired results.
Bottom line is: there are things that you might need to change about your lifestyle when you get a dog, but having to wake up early is not one of them. You do not have to get up at the dawn’s light every day. Your dog is completely capable of adapting to your life schedule. They can hold their bladder through the night (if they are not a puppy, that is), they can wait for their morning walk, and they absolutely are not dying of hunger.
Refusing to get up at your dog’s first call does not make you a bad owner. It makes you a responsible one; the one who cares about their own mental and physical health.