Dog Food Motivated

February 23, 2026

First things first. Unless your dog is sick, if your dog is eating and managing to stay alive, then he is food motivated enough to walk over to a bowl or figure out how to get calories some other way. I could stop here, but I won’t. I was recently interviewed on this very topic by The Farmer’s Dog.

Food is how we motivate most dogs in training. Sure, some very drivey dogs like working border collies or field line labs may work for fetch or tug. I would still bet good money they would also work for rare cooked steak. People say “my dog isn’t food motivated” when a dog does not do what we expect. But that’s not usually the case. Let’s look at what might be going on if your dog isn’t taking food or doing what you expect them to do for a food reward.

Fear. Fearful dogs often will not eat. They have bigger things to worry about. When a dog is afraid, their body changes to prepare for danger. Fear triggers the amygdala and activates the fight or flight response. Stress hormones are released, heart rate increases, pupils dilate, respiration increases, blood flow is directed to muscles, and systems that are not immediately necessary for survival, like the gastrointestinal system, slow down. With all of that happening, it is not surprising that a fearful dog is not hungry. In these cases, our job is to help the dog feel safer. That often means creating distance from the scary thing so the dog can relax enough to take food.

Confusion/Lack of Training. Another possibility is that the dog does not know what you are asking. This is a training issue. It is a “what?” problem. The dog may want the food you have, but does not understand what behavior earns it. The dog is essentially asking, what do you want me to do? More training is needed to clear up the confusion.

Not hungry! Sometimes the dog is simply not hungry. Hunger fluctuates. If a dog has just eaten a full meal, the food you are offering may not be very motivating. Imagine this. It is Thanksgiving, you are at my house, you have eaten seconds and thirds, and then I ask you to help me with some really hard chores. My payment offer is another piece of pie. Chances are good that pie is not very motivating when you are already stuffed. Now if I offered you $5,000, you might reconsider. In training, we often train around mealtimes, doing training first so the dog is hungry and motivated by food. The dog is not starving. He is still getting his calories. We are just being intentional about when and how those calories are delivered and using them in the context of training.

Not high value enough. Another very common issue is that the food or reward being offered is not motivating to the dog. This is important.

We do not get to decide what the dog finds motivating. The dog decides.

You may think you are offering something your dog should love, but if he does not, then it is not motivating. A good question to ask is whether your dog will take that food for free. If the answer is no, you need to increase the value. Novelty matters too. Most dogs enjoy variety. Nobody wants to eat the same thing all the time. If you are asking for a harder behavior, you should absolutely raise the value of the reward.

Think of food as your dog’s paycheck and there’s a difference between a $10 paycheck and a $100K paycheck. Nobody works for free. Not you, not me, not your dog. We need to scale the value of the paycheck/food based on what we are asking the dog to do. If there is competition in the environment, what you are offering needs to be more valuable than whatever else is happening. If you are holding a dry cookie and there is a squirrel running by, which one do you think your dog is going to choose? Why should he ignore the squirrel and come when you call? What is in it for him? Being told he is a good boy, or a full blown meatball party where he gets 30 seconds of eating meatballs?

Think of this scenario. You may love your job so you stay late at work, put in overtime, and expect a big bonus (because money is motivating for people). But when the time comes, your boss pats you on the shoulder and says, “nice job, thanks.” No extra money. Just praise. We do this to our dogs all the time. Your dog is an animal. They don’t work for free. And they don’t work “to please us.” They do things because it pays for them. We need to pay them with something they actually find motivating.

Dogs do not work for free.

Almost always when people tell me their dog is not food motivated the food they’re offering just is not valuable enough. I used to sit in consult while someone was telling me their dog wasn’t not food motivated, as the dog was actively doing behaviors for me for cheese or chicken. Or a fearful dog was approaching or doing a Find It for tossed rare steak.

One last note. I use real human food in training for several reasons. It is more motivating, it is often more cost effective, and I know exactly what the dog is getting. I can spend eight dollars on a small bag of commercial treats, or I can buy a few pounds of chicken breast for the same price and it lasts much longer. If weight is a concern, it is also easier to calculate and adjust calories. My treat bag usually includes cheese like pecorino, cheddar, or goat cheese, chicken breast, hot dogs, meatballs, and rare steak.

And if you’re interested, you can also read my post on Why Food Isn’t Bribery.

Also, if your dog is on a limited diet, you can make homemade treats from canned food, canned tuna, canned chicken or fresh foods like The Farmers’ Dog. Download my recipes here.

Watch my video here!

You’re not alone in your journey! I am here to help you if you need it!

I’m so excited to announce I’m a proud partner of The Farmer’s Dog! Their company motto is “Long Live Dogs” and who doesn’t want dogs to live longer? Knowing that their fresh, real food is healthy and made to human-grade safety standards makes all the difference. Want to try it for your dog? You can get 80% off your first box by clicking the link here!