# When (if ever) did your Spoo puppy calm down?



## zooeysmom (Jan 3, 2014)

As much as I love Maizie's fun and funny personality, she is VERY high maintenance, always having to be kept busy or she gets destructive. Will she ever calm down? What is your experience, if you had a high energy, busy pup?


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## Caddy (Nov 23, 2014)

Abbey will be a year old next week, she's never been destructive but very high energy, and I have noticed in the past few weeks she's maturing. Not any less energy or drive but more easily calmed down when she's having "a moment" as I call it. She's always been able to settle down in the evening and cuddle up.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Lily was a very busy baby and it really took until she was approaching two to start to settle. When she hit three she had turned into a brainiac performance girl, but even now she is still always busy, but trustworthy.

Too soon to tell with Javelin, but he has started out as a much easier dog.


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## Naira (Jan 9, 2015)

Well not a spoo but my toy poodle was very busy. I promise she was the busiest dog in the world. If she wasn't doing something naughty she was thinking of something naughty to do. She was probably around 4 or 5 before she matured. But I guarantee you your dog was not as high energy as her..lol. She was brilliant but very high maintenance


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## Indiana (Sep 11, 2011)

Maddy has always been very challenging that way; the funny thing is, she isn't really high energy. She gets her fast run in the mornings, and after that she doesn't really care to go for walks or fetch. She just likes to prance around and investigate, make sure everyone is where they were last night on the property when she's outside. But her favorite thing in the world is to get into things, so I need to keep her mentally stimulated. She really loves obedience classes, but they have to be fun and different with new stimuli. To try to make her do the same drills over and over is like a slow death for her. She was extremely destructive until age 4 I guess; now she still would if she could, but not at the same pace as before. She's not reliable when I'm gone, but she doesn't shred the bottom tray in her crate, for example, or chew holes in the wall or rip up the carpet anymore. And she loves to cuddle a lot more than she ever did before.


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## Theo'sMom (Mar 23, 2011)

My high energy spoo boy calmed down a little by three years old. Now at 4.5 years he only needs 3-4 hours a day of play, walks, stimulation.


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## zooeysmom (Jan 3, 2014)

Thank you for the laugh, Theo's Mom!


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## CoffeeN'Cream (Sep 14, 2015)

Misha used to be crazy for an hour around 9pm every night but at a little over 1yr old he calmed down quite a bit. He still loves to play and does the pooping zoomies, but he now know when he should and shouldn't be goofy (mostly). A spray bottle helped a ton with the excited barking. He will be 3 in December. 

So far Balthazar isnt high energy except when playing outside but he tires quickly because he is still a baby. He has yet to chew on anything he isnt supposed to, has never tried chewing on us even, and is much calmer than Misha was at this age. I think it's because he is less curious and more timid? 

Sent from my SM-N900P using Tapatalk


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## Caddy (Nov 23, 2014)

Hahaha Indiana, did Maddy really do all that!?!


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## Mfmst (Jun 18, 2014)

Shoot me now Theo's Mom if that's the timetable! With Buck it probably is I call him my Peter Pan Poodle and if he's slowing down it's at a glacier's pace. I have been taking the 2+year view with him. To be fair I (foolishly) asked my breeder for a high energy dog. I had no idea of the Poodle baseline! I thank God everyday for my big fenced yard and comfortable shoes!


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## Naira (Jan 9, 2015)

Caddy said:


> Hahaha Indiana, did Maddy really do all that!?!



My mini used to rip up the carpet and chew holes through walls. I had to always gate him..he was never to be trusted!


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## PoodleRick (Mar 18, 2013)

Penny is my third Spoo and she's coming up on two years old pretty soon and she's still a nut. Spoos, it seems to me, stay in puppy mode longer than most other breeds. My other two "matured" around three or three and a half years old. But even then there was a puppy just itching to make an appearance.

Rick


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## Bizzeemamanj (Apr 14, 2014)

Not a spoo, but a mpoo, and oh boy is he high energy! Cooper has two speeds - go and asleep. 

We asked for an active, bright puppy and that's exactly what our breeder gave us. What becomes challenging is keeping him stimulated on days when we are having downtime. We've learned to redirect his energy into positive outlets. That means daily sessions of active play, obedience and lots of walks.

At almost 2 years old (he will be 2 in March) Cooper has settled down in terms of having fewer moments of pure puppy or adolescent temper tantrums - no more nightly zooms, not much ignoring of direct commands, less rambunctious play, jumping up, stealing things for fun, putting on the brakes on walks, etc. So in that sense he's maturing and settling down significantly. These used to be almost daily occurrences, now we maybe have one episode a week.

I remember having moments of "what have I done" when his behavior was at it's worst. Now I only have moments of "what an awesome dog he's become". I imagine that's only going to grow over the next few months. Cooper really has turned into the ideal family companion.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Mfmst said:


> Shoot me now Theo's Mom if that's the timetable! With Buck it probably is I call him my Peter Pan Poodle *and if he's slowing down it's at a glacier's pace*. I have been taking the 2+year view with him. To be fair I (foolishly) asked my breeder for a high energy dog. I had no idea of the Poodle baseline! I thank God everyday for my big fenced yard and comfortable shoes!



Haha! that should mean he's settling very quickly now, since a glacier's pace isn't what it used to be with climate change. I used to use that expression all the time, but have stopped. Now I reference snails or slugs for slow pace.


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## ChantersMom (Aug 20, 2012)

Zooeysmom, with Chanter we noticed a slight 'calming' down at about 18 months. Lucky for him, he is our first dog and we could not believe how fast he could run, how high he could jump and how hard he could leash pull! We completely blamed ourselves and thought (briefly) about giving him up (tears). By 2, we noticed a huge difference..Yes, he continues to run at full steam ahead and fetch is a joy for him and me but he's not 'on' all the time. He is now 4. 

Just last night, I took him to my DD's adventure program here and when the kids were catching their breath, they spied Chanter, all ran over and there were 10 kids all petting him...tail wagging but calm! I have found the high energy is very welcomed because he's always ready to play fetch, jog with his mama and greet new people with joy!


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