Bringing a new puppy home is exciting, but it can also come with a few surprises, especially when it comes to training.

One of the most common challenges puppy handler's face is motivation.

What do you do when your puppy isn't interested in food or seems too distracted to learn?

Today we're talking all about food motivation, why it sometimes fails flat, especially in those early

days, and how to successfully train your puppy using a variety of rewards, including play,

while setting them up for long-term success.

Welcome to the puppy training podcast, the show designed to help you raise a confident,

well-behaved puppy using positive practical training methods.

Each week we'll explore real-life training strategies, break down common puppy challenges and give you

clear step-by-step guidance you can start using right away. Whether you're dealing with potty

training, biting, jumping, or just want to build a stronger bond with your pup as their

handler, you're in the right place. Welcome back to the puppy training podcast. I'm your host, Amy Jensen. Today, we are talking about

motivation and food, particularly. A lot of clients will call me and say, my puppy isn't interested

in food. And there's some reasons for that. So let's talk about that today. But food is one of the most

commonly used reinforcers in dog training. And it's for a good reason. It's convenient. It's

effective. Easy to deliver quickly. And for many puppies, food is the fastest way to communicate.

Yes, that's exactly what I want it. But here's the reality. Not all puppies are food motivated.

And again, there are some factors that might motivate that, if you will. And that doesn't mean something's wrong with your dog. It just means that we need to adjust our approach. So a lack of food motivation can show up as maybe they ignore food during training. Maybe they spit it out. Baxter will do that sometimes. He's pretty picky.

He has to test it and taste it and smell it. And if he doesn't like it, he spits it out.

Maybe it's being more interested in the environment than the reward. If you take a dog outside,

I guarantee smells, birds, squirrels, leaves, you name it, can be more interesting to your puppy. So we hear about that one

too and we experience that ourselves. But also responding when the very best foods are offered.

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