Chewing different materials affects the brain and a new study found that chewing on wood (wooden tongue depressors), compared to chewing gum, led to a significant increase in a natural brain antioxidant called glutathione, and better performance on memory tasks.

[u/mvea]

https://www.psypost.org/chewing-wood-may-boost-memory-and-brain-antioxidants-study-finds/

[u/TheArmoredKitten]

Total anecdote, but my dog's favorite treat is a big ol carrot right out of the dirt. I'll go to the farmer's market and buy a couple of em, because even one keeps her busy for at least an hour. Any time in the summer when she starts being a pain in the ass I just toss a cold carrot at her and she just hangs out in a sunny spot and obliterates it.

[u/Youre10PlyBud → u/TheArmoredKitten]

We had one that loved radishes. She got into the garden one year, dug one up, then promptly dug up every single one and demolished them (her name is mischief, had the habit of getting into things like this ha). Had the worst gas ever, but we learned that was a treat for her so she'd get cold radishes out of the fridge once every blue moon.

Never seen a dog get so happy for a vegetable.

[u/MoreRopePlease → u/Youre10PlyBud]

My dog loved fruits. She'd nose around in the blackberry brambles looking for blackberries. She'd stretch as high as she could to get the low-hanging cherries from the trees, she'd eat my strawberries and blueberries (I had to put a little fence around the patch). Sometimes I would throw her cherry pits or the ends of strawberries and she'd chase them and wolf them down. She also loved playing with garter snakes, and throw them around like a bit of rope, poor things.

[u/PsyCurious007 → u/MoreRopePlease]

One of my garden foxes, Daisy, had a thing for gooseberries and would stand up on her hind legs to get them.