Let me play advocate for the devil for a minute.
Larches wake up regardless of daytime length, they can go dormant regardless of daytime length. In a freezing environment, part of their natural range, they go dormant and freeze to the core - with some minor sap flow going on due to high sugars and stuff.
When a plant is frozen, it does nothing. The internal activity during dormancy during 4 months of frosts is roughly the same as activity for 1 week in average temperatures.
So after a full arctic winter, total internal activity has been 8 warm weeks in fall, 1 week (accounting for 4 months of being frozen) and another 4-8 weeks till wake up time. In cold locations that is, of course.
I'm a little convinced that as long as the onset and start of the dormancy were done right, you can pull a tree out of dormancy whenever you please - IF the tree isn't daylight sensitive. All of the activity during dormancy, making it a solid one, has been during those warmer times. If the transitions are right, the tree isn't going to notice if those cold days were 30, 90, or 120 days, activity wise they count as "just a hand full".
I store seeds in a freezer, seeds with a lifespan of +/- 4 months at room temperature. At -20C I can keep them viable for roughly 8+ years, without added water or even fresh air. This hints towards total stand still, or at least a huge decrease in activity. These seeds don't know, they perform as good as fresh seeds.
Please debate this with me. I can make logical arguments for both keeping dormancy at natural levels, as well as the benefit of stopping dormancy a bit earlier. This is a subject I haven't dug my teeth in to a whole lot and I'd like to hear what you guys have to say about it.