| Why does a Laborador Retreiver Fetch?
OK it sounds like a stupid question but stick with me for a moment.
Every dog I have owned in my life had to be taught to fetch. Then last year I got a chocolate lab puppy (10 weeks old) for my son. The very first time I threw a stick he ran , grabbed it, and brought it straight back to me.
Big deal wilthrill look at the breed's name you dumbass. A Labador RETREIVER retrieves because it was bred to. It is a genetic trait that breeders have encouraged in the dog.
Which got me to thinking, why would nature favor a trait in an animal that led the animal to fetch? You see the theory of natural selection says that genetic traits are classified as good or bad by nature and good traits are encouraged while bad ones are discouraged. For example a gazelle with longer legs can run faster, is thus more apt to survive and breed, and thus its genes (long legs) get passed on to its children. An albino alligator on the other hand is poorly camouflaged in swamp terrain, is probably spotted first by predators and dies before he can pass on his genetic traits. Thus albino alligators are RARE.
But pretty much every trait that I can think of is related somehow to survival of the species. So how is the genetic disposition to fetch a stick in any way related to survival and if it isn't then why does it exist? |