[natbennett]

“Food-motivated” in dogs means something more like “can be induced to listen to commands from a human in exchange for food.” Some dogs are only interested in their own plans. Others are only interested in really good food, or are much more interested in some other reward, like having a ball thrown.

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.

[saghm]

One of my cats is the same way. If anything, he's _more_ excited by getting attention from me than he is from food. Sometimes when he'll be eating, I'll get up from my desk (which is at the far side of the living room from the couches) and he'll notice and excitedly run off to the opposite side of the living room and hop on the couch and stare up at me until I come over because I've conditioned him to go there to get pets and cuddles (since he originally would try to lead me to a spot on the floor where it was far less comfortable to sit). Although he really loves a specific brand of treats, he's at least as much excited by just getting some love from his favorite humans (who are, in order, my wife, then me, then my mother-in-law, and then anyone else who's he's met enough to trust and want affection from) as he is from getting treats.

[tharkun__]

This.

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.

[saghm]

I'm not sure if there's a "too early" for my cat or if he just will always do this, because I've never managed to give him attention long enough that he's satisfied. A minute, ten minutes, an hour...

[tharkun__]

It's weird. She'll swat at you / bite when she's had enough. Or sometimes just coz she's excited but really wants you to continue.

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!

[saghm]

My other cat actually seems pretty similar to her in that regard; she's super food motivated (begging constantly for literally anything edible, even human food like fries or ramen noodles, although of course we don't give her any), but she also demands pets and rubs the point where she seems like she's overstimulating herself. Although she'll happily settle on literally anyone's lap (even a stranger), if you pet her more than a little bit, she'll slowly start to lick your fingers, and then if you don't withdraw them give them a nibble, and then just absolutely chomp on them, all while refusing to budge off your lap. Sometimes she'll just go right from headbutting to chomping, and it doesn't actually seem like she's unhappy with the sensation or anything; she just gets excited and enjoys biting our hands as much as getting pet by them (or maybe even a bit more...).

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.

[dmix]

My recall training improved dramatically when I stopped only using treats as he got wise to that game, he would only do that consistently at home or solo. When I started using the come command with a game like tug of war or running away slightly then throwing a ball, he associated it with fun/activity and comes more often now.

[spike021]

this. i have a shiba inu. one of the most picky, stubborn breeds. he can be food-motivated but it depends on which treat i offer him. some have higher value to him than others. In addition, sometimes they won’t motivate him at all if there’s something else he deems worthy of his focus.

[iancmceachern]

Yeah, we have two and one is very clearly in the food motivated camp and the other likes food and treats, but won't do anything for them like our other.