Food as a Reward – Pitfalls and Key Aspects of Working with Food Motivation part 2.

6. Food is for calm exercises and relaxation! 🥱🍖

Some of you struggle with motivating your dog or getting enough energy out of them during training. Others have the opposite problem—your dog is a young, excitable, hyper ball of energy who’s interested in everything: the world, toys, and anything that moves.

Agility, frisbee, fetching on walks, tug-of-war with toys at home—we practice running, circling, active tricks, and reward all of it with amazing toys. And then… we grab some food and work on self-control, staying put, disengagement, calm lying down while others are working, etc. Imagine this going on for several months. You’re a young, energetic dog, and every time your owner pulls out food, it’s time for those amazing exercises in being good. What are you thinking? What do you choose? 🤔

This is a trap many of us fall into. I encourage a little soul-searching—what does working for food mean to your dog right now? Can you create an engaging session with food rewards? How many ways do you use food for rewarding, and aside from teaching your dog "manners," do you also build engagement in these sessions? Do you vary your training methods with food, or is it all about luring?

I leave this point for your reflection. 😉

7. Timing and effective communication in training.

Food is food, but having it present in your training session guarantees nothing. It’s easy to fall into the bribery trap, creating a dog who won’t listen in different contexts—without visible food or without understanding the commands. Owning food and having a food-motivated dog doesn’t excuse us from ensuring proper communication during training.

Your dog should understand when they’re released from a position and when they’re expected to remain there. Even after receiving a treat, they should know to continue the exercise. Motivation-building shouldn’t equate to a free-for-all!

Timing your rewards and letting your dog know a reward is coming is equally critical. If you’re teaching new behaviors or in a challenging environment, the reward should always be within reach. I understand you don’t want crumbs in every pocket, but spending 40 seconds fishing out a piece of sausage from three layers of pockets and a plastic bag is WAY too long. ⏳🐾

8. Natural behaviors associated with food.

Dogs may be domesticated, but they’re still driven by instincts and natural responses to stimuli. Seeking food is one of their inherent behaviors, and we can use this for our modest, human training goals. 😏

Think about what your dog would most naturally “hunt” in the wild. We tend to serve everything on a silver platter for our beloved fur babies, but dogs enjoy working for their meals! Incorporating effort into reward retrieval can make training far more engaging.

There are endless ways to make this fun for your dog—let their preferences guide you! Personally, I start every challenging training session with an activity to spark my dog’s engagement, like building excitement and focus on following me or fighting for treats. If my dog isn’t motivated in this exercise, I don’t move on to other training—this becomes the training session.

Here's a short video of me working on this with Bułka: Watch it here. 🐶🎥

9. Rabbits don’t say “bon appétit” 🐰

Building food motivation includes considering how we deliver the reward. If I want to encourage my dog to chase food, I don’t shove it into their mouth at the last second! Imagine your dog chasing a rabbit or a deer—does the prey stop, run towards the dog, and say, “Here you go”? Of course not. 🐇

When using moving food rewards, the movement should always be away from the dog. If you’re curious whether your dog actively takes food from your hand or if you’re just giving it to them, try this: close your eyes during the final phase of delivery. Does your dog lean into your hand to grab the treat, or are you doing all the work?

For dogs accustomed to being fed directly, this can lead to disinterest or outright refusal to accept treats from your hand! Adjusting how you offer food—even changing the angle of your hand—can make all the difference.

10. Anything can be fun, not just toys! And when it’s not time for serious training…

If your dog isn’t enthusiastic about earning treats and you’re a boring partner, then removing the treat pouch leaves you with no leverage at all. 😅 I aim to make the process of earning and waiting for rewards inherently exciting for the dog, often incorporating “silly” games to build engagement.

One thing I dislike is seeing someone overloaded with treats, standing in the middle of the field or training area, with the dog looking like they’d rather be anywhere else. If this sounds familiar, it’s a sign that now is not the time for formal training.

I like to introduce alternative reward strategies, such as using bowls or even buckets. I enjoy teaching tricks, interactions with objects, rewarding from the ground, and more. These “food games” are tailored to the dog’s preferences. Once I’ve had several micro-sessions with a motivated, excited dog, I start adding higher-level criteria. 🎯🐾