Is it possible to slow down a dahlia from growing once it starts?

Here in the Bay Area, there has been little to no rain since December. This weekend, the temps hit a high of 74 and it has been GORGEOUS for weeks. There is NO rain predicted for the foreseeable future either.

Which is great for my golf game but not so great for my dahlias because they obviously think Spring has sprung. I dug up a tuber (Rip City) 2 weeks ago to divide it and gave it to my son and it was obvious it had an eye because it was already sprouted! Mind you that was in January and Rip City is not an early bloomer.

So I suspect MANY of my dahlias will soon push thru the soil and we barely started the month of February. Then of course, one or more of the normal spring storms (with temps sometimes so low we get light snow on the higher peaks - 2-3,000 ft) will occur and the dahlias will be shocked into who knows what. (Last year we had storms into late May.)

Has anyone had success replanting them LOWER when they start sprouting too early for their own good? I imagine I could dig them all up again and break off any sprouts already sprouted but that seems inhumane to me. Or dig them up again and store them in the fridge for a month? I guess what I need it a dahlia retardant chemical that slows down or delays the growth cycle but I never heard of such a product.

Maybe someone here knows of a home remedy that will do the same? Just clutching at straws here to save my season because I know at this rate they will mostly all be up by April because they think it is late April now!