Can someone explain to me....

Why our dog has started barking at the crack of dawn every morning? She used to sleep through the entire night and often had to be woken up in the morning because she was so sleepy. Gone are those days... She now wakes up anywhere between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. and barks non-stop until the morning. She suckered us (Brad) a few times and was allowed to get in to bed with us after hours of barking. After I convinced Brad that giving in to her "doe eyes" (as he likes to call them) will get us no where fast we are back to plugging our ears with ear plugs and doing our best to ignore her naughty behavior. Rumor has it that dogs around the 1 year old mark try to establish their independence and dominance. Someone should let her know that I am the Alpha Dog in this house. Bark on sister.