Stimulate a youngster with a bit of dope (3,2)

I believe the answer is:

pep up

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'stimulate' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)

'a youngster with a bit of dope' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'youngster' could be 'pup' (a pup is a young dog) and 'pup' is found in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

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