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That is very tricky situation since there is arguably no better way to get repetition during the early learning phase than when using food.
If the owners are serious about wanting to teach new behaviors I would suggest to them that they allow themselves to get scientific for the sake of teaching initial exercises efficiently.
If they weigh his food and figure out how much he is currently eating and have any way to monitor his weight. Most people dont have access to a scale that works well for larger dogs, but if they take nice side and top photos along with feeling ribs and lumbar area of spine weekly most people will be able to detect the differences and especially if they cut back too far.
The idea is to establish operations. I have never met a dog that wont eventually become more motivated for the treats if they are not receiving enough calories to maintain HEALTHY weight. Then, the treats will supplement the calories until you get the initial stuff out of the way at least.
In my experience an overweight dog won’t necessarily become treat crazy while losing weight until they reach an ideal weight and then after that the internal alarms kick in. I haven’t read anything scientific on this, it is just my observation from past experience.
