The off Switch

When did your dog start getting one? Just curious.

I am really loving this newfound Mia that suddenly appeared. She now is very content to sleep part of the day and snuggle and all that. Of course I am still giving her plenty of exercise but I have to admit it is nice. Before she was absolutely literally into things 24/7. Nowadays she has her moments of 'omg must not stop moving!' where trying to get her calmed down seems in vain effort. But overall... much better.

Arnold got his around 3.5-4 years... of course once that flipped he landed in perma off mode.

The malinois... well.... lol

As long as mine have been well exercised/mentally stimulated (training/games/activities), they've had pretty good off switches from the start. I'm lucky in the fact that Rory has a really good off switch, even though he is very high energy and can be a workaholic at times!

Emma is over a year old and still has some issues calming down and relaxing. She's gotten better about it as she's grown up a little more... but there are so many times where I'll have her outside running around/training, and she'll still come inside wanting to bounce off the walls. Generally, if the others are all relaxing she'll relax with them at least.

Milo (who sounds EXACTLY like Mia from just about everything you post) developed an off switch around 2.5 years.

I was really afraid Mia would go perma-off lol. But so far she hasn't lost any intensity whatsoever which is really really nice. I can still get her going from dead sleep if I just say the word 'tennis ball' or 'squirrel'. From dead sleep she'll go flying off the furniture, charging down the hall, screaming.

I think the biggest difference is she's not so demanding. she used to throw tennis balls at your face almost 24/7 and now she'll try that for a few minutes then give up and go entertain herself.

With Grant I think it was between 3-4.

Harry died suddenly just after turning 7. He never did develop one.

also, just curious but what do you guys consider 'turning off'? Dog being asleep or just not bothering you?

Sitting still. Even if Harry wasn't bothering me, he was often pacing the house or running up and down the stairs. He even did it in the middle of the night.

I think both my dogs always had one. They play when I play and sleep when I chill. I don't know how so, but it's true. Leo only doesn't sleep at 4-5am when he wakes EVERYONE in the house up to tell us he needs to go out to do his business.

ETA: I also consider Bella not bugging me to be a bit of an off. Providing she isn't actually chasing birds outside of course, just sitting quietly around me. Leo may just be developing a perma off though

Chloe's happened around 1.5-2 years, I think. As a puppy she was god awful. Thank God she did not stay that way or I would have died. Now she is just as content to laze around as I am, and also just as content to get up and go when I am. It is very, very nice.

Is Sam weird? He has had a good off switch from about the time we got him at 8-10 weeks of age. He has always had a good off switch. I knew I was lucky but I didn't think it took other dogs so long, lol.

Oh. Well then we're still working on that one. If she's not bothering me she's usually playing with a ball or something by herself or bothering one of the other dogs.

But she is sleeping part of the day, that's progress, right?

for me as long as they're not bothering me, I'm fine with them doing whatever.

Around 4 for Luce. Mushroom came with one.

Steve... he's better these days about entertaining himself, but he still spends most of his time in motion. Which I've pretty much learned to ignore.

Pit's off switch is finicky, it's really quite hard to flip it ON. Took him until about 1 year to really shine and show interest/enthusiasm for anything really. It's still a struggle to flip that darn thing on. My toller is broken.

I think Mu developed one at about 18 months? I consider her being able to relax and either sleep or entertain herself to be an off switch though. I have apparently not been exercising her enough recently because she's gone back into hover mode - which consists of standing in front of me trying to use the power of her mind to make me do something interesting. Lol.

Murphy's always had an off switch, but I got him when he was four. And Tipper....well her's is mostly there. She's usually willing to just chill out if that's what we're doing but some days are better than others (she's about 2).

Exactly... When we sit on the couch Backup paces with a toy in his mouth, leaping over the back of the couch and running the top line of it at an angle like a skate boarder on a rail, he's a bit better than Sloan, he will occasionally lay and chew up his toy for up to a minute if you don't look at him or flinch. Sloan literally pounces you and drops her toys on your head, laptop, dinner plate, etc.

When they can calm and settle on their own and just leave me alone a bit I'll consider that an off switch. lol

Edited to add... This is after a very long hike and training session, about as good as it gets.... Pardon our filthy table and the noise is them running in and out of the crate behind me thinking they can get dinner on command (and the other noise is Denis playing guitar).
YouTube - ‪Moo‬‏

Edited again... Backups version of settle down...
YouTube - ‪Herding dog is herding‬‏

I think Sawyer pretty much came with one, he's always been able to chill out at least for a little bit. But I always made sure he got a 3 mile walk in the morning or a run at the park, then we worked for a doggie daycare, so he got plenty of stimulation there.

This describes Nia exactly. She's been like that since about one year old. As long as she gets a good run at least once a day, she can sleep most ofthe day away other than a few short fetch sessions at home or a few short walks.

Pop and truffles were born with off switches lol they never turn on

Ty got his at 1 yearish...

And *knock on wood* I think Classic is figuring out his..... He's 2, so it's about dang time. LOL

Zuma has a really good off-switch so I am very grateful for that.

Probably around 18-24months. I started noticing it more once she was on thyroid meds, because then the constant whining stopped. I'm home for lunch right now--Juno gave me the typical wiggly boxer greeting, and now she's just lying down while I eat. It's nice!

For me, I don't expect her to be sleeping.... even if she's entertaining herself with a toy or exploring the backyard, I consider her turned off. But when she's bothering me or being a lunatic, that's not off lol.

Lucy on the other hand, has never turned on.