FOOD, REWARDS AND FOOD MOTIVATION
£29.99
FOOD, REWARDS AND FOOD MOTIVATION
13-Lesson GPK9 Online Dog Training Course
£29.99
Food can be one of the most powerful tools in dog training—but knowing how to use food correctly is just as important as choosing the right reward.
Food, Rewards and Food Motivation is a comprehensive 13-lesson GPK9 online course designed to teach you how to use food, treats and other rewards effectively while developing motivation, communication, reliability and independence in your dog.
This course takes you from the foundations of choosing and using training rewards through to understanding food motivation, reducing dependence on visible treats and building reliable behaviour without constantly having food in your hand.
You will learn not simply how to give your dog treats, but why, when, where and how rewards should be used during training.
WHAT THIS COURSE COVERS
1. FOOD AND REWARD FOUNDATIONS
What treats are best for dog training?
Learn what makes a useful training reward and how to choose food that suits your individual dog, the behaviour you are teaching and the training environment.
What food should I use to train my dog?
Understand how different foods can be used during training, how reward value can affect motivation and how to use food appropriately without allowing it to become the focus of the exercise.
What are the best rewards for dog training?
Explore food, praise, play, toys, freedom, access, interaction and other rewards, and learn why the best reward is the one that has meaningful value to your individual dog.
Is food training good for dogs?
Understand how food can be used as part of positive reinforcement training and how appropriate reward-based training can build learning, engagement and communication.
How much food should I use during training?
Learn how to manage treat size, quantity and frequency while keeping training effective and considering your dog’s overall food intake.
2. FOOD MOTIVATION AND TRAINING
Why does my dog not care about treats?
Discover why a dog may ignore food during training and how environment, arousal, distraction, stress, timing, reward value and the dog’s individual preferences can affect motivation.
Why won’t my dog take treats during training?
Learn how to recognise when refusing food is telling you something about the training environment or your dog’s current state, rather than simply assuming your dog is being difficult.
How do I increase my dog’s food motivation?
Learn how to build positive associations with food, improve engagement and use food more effectively without creating unnecessary dependence on treats.
3. USING REWARDS EFFECTIVELY
Can I train my dog without treats?
Yes—but removing food is not the same as removing reinforcement.
Learn how to use praise, play, access, freedom, exploration and other meaningful rewards while understanding when food remains the most appropriate choice.
How long should I use treats for training?
Understand when frequent reinforcement is valuable, when behaviour becomes established and how to progress from continuous rewards towards more variable reinforcement.
When should I stop rewarding my dog?
Learn why completely stopping rewards is not necessarily the goal. Instead, discover how to change the type, frequency and value of reinforcement as your dog’s skills develop.
Will my dog only listen if I have treats?
Learn why dogs can become dependent on visible food, how handlers can accidentally turn rewards into part of the cue and how to move towards communication-first training.
4. FADING FOOD AND BUILDING RELIABILITY
How do I fade treats from dog training?
Learn how to move from a food lure towards an independent response.
You will learn the difference between:
LURING → REWARDING
and how to gradually progress towards:
CUE → BEHAVIOUR → MARK → REWARD
The objective is not to suddenly remove food.
The objective is to teach your dog that your communication comes first and the reward comes afterwards.
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
By completing the course, you will understand:
- How to choose effective training rewards
- How food motivation works
- Why some dogs refuse treats
- How environment affects food motivation
- How to use food without creating dependence
- The difference between a lure and a reward
- How to reward behaviour correctly
- How timing affects learning
- How to use markers effectively
- How to hide food during training
- How to fade visible food from your training
- How to build reliable responses
- How to use variable reinforcement
- How to use life rewards
- How to use praise and play appropriately
- How to generalise behaviour into different environments
- How to increase difficulty without creating unnecessary failure
- How to recognise when your dog needs more reinforcement
- How to recognise when your dog needs an easier training environment
- How to maintain motivation as training progresses
- How to develop greater independence from visible food
FROM TREATS TO RELIABLE BEHAVIOUR
One of the biggest problems handlers experience is a dog that appears to understand a behaviour at home but stops responding when the treats disappear or the environment becomes more difficult.
This course explains why that happens.
Food should not become the dog’s instruction.
It should become the dog’s reinforcement.
You will learn how to progress from:
FOOD LURE
to
EMPTY HAND
to
CUE
to
BEHAVIOUR
to
MARK
to
REWARD
and eventually towards:
VARIABLE REINFORCEMENT
and
MAINTENANCE.
This approach helps build a dog that understands what you are asking rather than simply looking for what is in your hand.
BUILD MOTIVATION — DON’T CREATE DEPENDENCE
GPK9 does not teach you to remove treats simply to prove that your dog can work without them.
Food remains a valuable training tool.
The objective is to use it intelligently.
As your dog’s understanding develops, you can gradually change how food is presented, when it is delivered and how frequently it is used.
You can also introduce other meaningful rewards such as:
- Praise
- Play
- Toys
- Sniffing
- Exploration
- Freedom
- Access
- Interaction
- Environmental rewards
The result is a more flexible and reliable training system.
THE GPK9 TRAINING APPROACH
Throughout the course, you will learn to look beyond the treat itself.
GPK9 training considers:
CATEGORY → STATUS → DRIVE → CONTROL
and uses the handler’s core process:
OBSERVE → INTERPRET → DECIDE → ACT → REASSESS
As training develops, communication becomes increasingly important.
You learn to observe what your dog is telling you, understand the situation, make an appropriate decision, communicate clearly and then observe the dog’s response.
That means you are not simply asking:
“What treat should I use?”
You are learning to ask:
“What does my dog need from me to understand, respond and progress?”
WHO IS THIS COURSE FOR?
This course is suitable for:
- New dog owners
- Puppy owners
- Owners beginning reward-based training
- Owners who already use treats but want to use them more effectively
- Dogs that appear uninterested in treats
- Dogs that only listen when food is visible
- Owners struggling to fade treats
- Owners wanting stronger motivation and engagement
- Owners wanting to build reliable behaviour in different environments
- Anyone wanting a clearer understanding of rewards and reinforcement
13 COMPLETE ONLINE LESSONS
You receive all 13 lessons covering:
FOOD AND REWARD FOUNDATIONS
- What treats are best for dog training?
- What food should I use to train my dog?
- What are the best rewards for dog training?
- Is food training good for dogs?
- How much food should I use during training?
FOOD MOTIVATION AND TRAINING
- Why does my dog not care about treats?
- Why won’t my dog take treats during training?
- How do I increase my dog’s food motivation?
USING REWARDS EFFECTIVELY
- Can I train my dog without treats?
- How long should I use treats for training?
- When should I stop rewarding my dog?
- Will my dog only listen if I have treats?
FADING FOOD AND BUILDING RELIABILITY
- How do I fade treats from dog training?
WHAT YOU WILL TAKE AWAY
By the end of this course, you should have a much clearer understanding of how to use food and rewards as part of a structured training process.
You will understand that successful reward-based training is not simply about carrying a bag of treats.
It is about:
MOTIVATION
TIMING
COMMUNICATION
REINFORCEMENT
PROGRESSION
RELIABILITY
The ultimate objective is to build a dog that understands your communication, wants to engage with you and can perform behaviours without needing to see the reward before responding.
GPK9 — FOOD, REWARDS AND FOOD MOTIVATION
13 comprehensive online lessons
Self-paced learning
Practical GPK9 training principles
Positive reinforcement approach
Designed for puppies and adult dogs
COURSE PRICE: £29.99
Train the Human. Train the Dog. Build the Partnership.