My dog for instance is not particularly food motivated. He believes strongly that there is “food” and “better food” and will hold off until he’s really hungry to eat something that’s just food. But he’s very motivated by attention. He will do tricks for treats he doesn’t like and then drop the treat on the floor once you give it to him.
Food is just a "has to be there in case I'm hungry" for our cat.
But she'll run up to us, meowing and running around us and bumping into our legs to try and lead us to her favourite spot on the floor (on a rug, so it's nice and warm), throw herself on the floor and on the side to get petted.
And if you stop too early, she'll run after you.
You'll only know which it was based on whether she chases you after you've got a new scratch and walked away or not!
She's pretty weird in a lot of ways though, and I suspect a big part of it is a lack of proper socialization before I adopted her. When I got her from a shelter, she was already 10 years old, and they evidently didn't keep their records super carefully, since I was initially told she wasn't spayed over, then told in person she was spayed and given documentation indicating that, but she definitely wasn't! She kept going into heat, which can apparently still happen after being spayed if they accidentally leave behind a small amount of ovarian tissue, so my vet had me get her into surgery right when she had started going into heat at one point so that the leftover tissue would be swelled and easier to remove, but the surgeon told me after that she had definitely never actually been spayed before; her words were something along the lines of "I opened her up, and then BAM, uterus!"
In addition to her infinite appetite for things she has no business being interested in and her violent cuddling tendencies, she's also the only cat I've ever known to run _towards_ loud sounds when something falls over or something. She's even growled menacingly at sounds in the hallway on more than one occasion; I think she thinks she's a guard dog or something.
The rescue org asked all fosters to crate train their dogs. The first I fostered was a lab mix. He hated his crate, but all I had to do was throw one piece of kibble in and he would sprint inside. As soon as I locked the door he would whine, for upwards of 30 minutes, which was hard for a first time dog owner. I kept checking the camera I setup until he finally settled down and I was able to relax. This routine happened every time.
The other one was a Boxer/Pit mix. He would not go into his crate for all the kibble in the world. He just didn't care. He knew what would happen if he went in, so he wouldn't budge. When I eventually managed to coax him inside, and I closed the door, he was totally silent. He made the choice to go in knowing what would happen. This happened every time.
So based on my limited experience, food motivation is not about whether or not a dog wants to eat, but what other desires that desire for food (even when not particularly hungry) will override.
… and also that’s where we put his electric heating blanket. Sometimes when I ask him if he’s hungry, he just huffs and raises his eyebrows at me, like “do I have to eat now??”
For them food is absolutely ignored if there’s a possibility of something to do. Food in a bowl and a ball nearby? Food is secondary to ball. We used to worry about our border collie and have to constantly make effort to lock him in a room with food so he’d eat and not just allow the other dogs to take the food.
Cats can be similarly ‘fussy’ as well. I have two indoor cats, a Garfield (can’t leave food out near him or he’ll eat to the point of throwing up) and one thats play obsessed and not at all interested in food except as needed at the most minimal levels. Makes it hard to feed them since one needs food left out to graze and the other has to be controlled.
Sure, they like a ball, or better still a squirrel to chase, but they'll give up that chase instantly for a piece of bacon.
Think about humans: all humans need calories, but some people just want to drink Soylent and other people will spend hours creating elaborate meals. Some people will barely eat because they know they need to, while others will eat until they are sick if they don't stop themselves. Some people will walk miles for the best ice cream, while others will walk miles to see their favorite band.
Everyone knows someone who will eat like 3 potato chips and move onto something else, while others will sit and mow down the whole bag. Taking a GLP-1 will basically just convert you from one kind to the other in a dose-dependent way.
The same kind of variability is present in dogs - but without the conscientiousness axis.
But if there's something tasty going down like diced chicken breast or some steak, they'll show you they remember every learned command perfectly.
Even mentioning their favourite food gets their attention as some words are worth learning and remembering.
So we fed them both at the same time, twice a day, and had to watch if the husky would eat or not for that meal, and remove the food bowl if he wasn't hungry, so the lab wouldn't scarf it down.
This is an n=1 anecdote that your guess was the opposite of my experience. That dog just didn't care about food. He did however love eating ice cubes. I never tried just a bowl of ice cubes.
You moved the bag of treats and there she was. Lasagna was a hit.
Angel food cake was her favourite, she would fight you for it, and 18 lbs of cat packs a punch. Probably my fault. Lured her out of many places with crumbs though. Worked better than the Temptations.
e.g. our border collies will do things for you just because it's interesting to them or because they figure it might please you. Without treats. Look at a collie herd sheep or ducks, and they're totally blissing out on it, and they don't get food rewards after. It's just something they love to do.
There's other dogs who won't do anything unless they get a tasty treat out of it.
My other cats are all at least normally motivated by food.
As an adult it becomes a relationship, and the dog is more responsive to praise and criticism.
That is what is meant IMO by "food motivated"
Feeding time is best, best ever, joy joy, for their entire lives
Even in a mostly smooth walnut brain, there exists a genetically diverse hierarchy of desires. My dog was the runt of the litter, a different puppy was the glutton that ate every scrap in 10 seconds.
Now, 7 years later, she's picky. She'll spit out some food I give her if it isn't appealing enough. She can still obviously be motivated with food and treats, but it's far less unconditional.
In war times there are stories of people boiling and eating leather belts, boots and similar stuff. Imagine the drive to spend non-trivial amount of time and energy to eat that.
I have a dog that starved as a puppy (not by me, I rested him, best thing I have done in the last decade).
He is four now, and we have an extensive routine securing every acces to food like substances when he is left alone.
Other dogs I've had, not so much
- the treats you have are good-enough (better have delicious chicken, otherwise, no dice)
- she hasn’t decided that there isn’t something else she’d rather be doing
- hours much of a process she feels like being today.
You can motivate her with food only on her terms. Conversely, my partners dog would commit crimes just to be near the cheese packet.
Food motivated is usually the degree to which a dog responds to food in conjunction with other stimulus. When food is used for training as opposed to their normal meals.
Some dogs when training don't respond to food as much as other dogs.