An interesting video to see the dogs motivation to work with play versus food

Having work with Thor for a couple of weeks now it’s been very interesting to see his progression with Food. He came to me with little to no interest for food and certainly would not work for it. Well, I don’t need dogs to work for their food, I do prefer to have dogs that willing to take food in training one reason being is it can be easier to use food as a lure to get positions or locations.
However, I don’t always have food on me or toys for that matter so I prefer the dog to view me and our play or relationship as a form of reward so that is what we worked towards this can take time which is another reason I like to use food as dogs who enjoy food will most likely work for it straight away, while you form the relationship for play.
In this video, you will see Thor and I starting our training session with play. Note his eagerness to interact, his playfulness, acceptance of affection, his loose body, wagging tail, expressive demeanor, and overall peppy/happy movements. This is where I prefer a dogs mindset to be especially during training!
When we switch to food you see his body tighten and no more wagging tail, you may not be able to see it but his whole body is vibrating, he has no interest in interactions with me; play or affection, and he lost his peppy/happy demeanor.
He has big feels around food. It shifts the way he thinks, interacts, and feels. Now that we have play as an effective reward for him we mostly use that but I still have him work for his food, but why?
I am proofing Thors obedience to still be present even when he is in his feelings. I am showing him he can work through stress. I am teaching him I still have expectations even if you are stressed. If this sounds harsh to you, it’s reality, life has stressful moment no matter how much you may try to shield your dog, think vet, groomer, travel, storms, fireworks, new events…. I would rather put in the work so the dog knows how to handle stress and can still listen through stress while trusting I will guide them.