Chris Young has a live-in alarm clock that wakes up from a dead sleep at 7AM every morning.

It’s his large German Shepherd dog, Porter.

“He does not understand the concept of sleeping in,” Young told Taste of Country Nights during a recent visit. “I made the mistake of — I was getting up early for a lot of stuff for a couple of weeks, and he just got locked in that 7AM was when he gets fed.”

It was 9AM local time (Nashville) when Young was visiting our studio. He was wearing a hat, because he couldn’t style his hair on this morning — he blamed Porter for that, also.

“You know what? When my dog wakes me up at 7AM and then I know I have to be in town and dressed properly by like, 8, I was like, ‘I’m just gonna ball-cap it today.'”

Porter offers no leniency — he sticks to a strict schedule.

“I’m waking up at 7AM, whether I want to or not,” Young admits, due to the fact that his 115 lb. dog is climbing into his bed and making sure he is getting up to feed him.

Porter was a gift to Young from his sister, Dorothy, in 2018. The pup was much smaller back then.

Fans latched onto the pup, and now the dog is almost as famous as his daddy. Porter even has his own Instagram page, with 75,000 followers who are watching his every move and bark.

Young has a busy year ahead: He’s got sporadic live shows planned through August. He recently signed a record deal with Black River Entertainment after nearly 20 years on Sony Music Nashville.

He’s excited to be a big fish in a smaller pond, and right now, he’s promoting a new song called “Til the Last One Dies.“