Dog body size

[lokidog]

There you go, genetics, as mentioned, is the base factor in how big a dog CAN get.  Females are genetically usually smaller than males so, given the same food/living conditions, they will be smaller.

Of course, environment will have some effect on the ability of genetics to reach its potential.

Agree. Genetics are a big part of it.......but not all of it. ie: a seed from a Fuji apple will not grow into a Fuji producing tree. Offspring are a mix of the parentals, but they also have/develop some of their own characteristics 
100% genetics does not explain why my last 5 labs have all turned out smaller than the parents. 

I am sorry, but genetically, that is a worthless comparison.  Dogs have two sets of chromosomes, apples can have three or even four sets with many copies of genes that may or may not be expressed. Apples will rarely, if ever, breed true, not so for dogs. 

[NOCK NOCK]

yea not the best analogy.  but you get my point I think

[wildweeds]

There's  phenomenon  in genetics called drag of the race, offspring lean to the average or mediocre of parents each subsequent generation compounds it, however some of the specimens in a litter will lend themselves to the above average. It's a small small percentage most of the time say one pup out of 10. It's the same in horses,cattle,sheep goats and even humans, I myself had 2 grandpa's that were tall, one at 6 foot 4, the other at 6 foot 8  I'm a regular 5 10, but in the next generation of kids theres a 13 year old who is 6 foot 4, there's a 17 year old at 6 2 and their dad is 5 11, consequently there cousins are a 17 year old who is 5 8 from and a 13 year old at 5 foot from a 6 5 father. All those kids eat  red meat like great white sharks and live in small houses. It really has zero to do with environment size or feed quality provided they are being fed normally.

[NOCK NOCK]

So is evolution genetics driven? or did species convert from water to land or vice/versa as a result of their need to adapt to the changing environment?

[Colin]

Yes evolution was the process of selective breeding by nature over the course of millions of years. If you took the smallest pups from a litter and bred them and then took the smallest pup and bred to another small pup and then did it again you'd essentially be replicating what you are talking about. Environment effected evolution by killing those that were not able to adapt, i.e. wolves with a thin coat didn't propogate their genes because they died in the cold winters. It wasn't that the wolves with the genetics for thin coats evolved and started to grow thicker coats it's simply that the stronger more adapted wolves bred more and survived more.

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[Happy Gilmore]

Evolution happens over a few million years not a few litters

[PA BEN]

First you have to believe in evolution.

[theleo]

Evolution is a result of natural selection. The fittest survive and pass their superior genetics to the next generation. Dogs are bred due to our selections in the traits we want to see shown in the next generation. Wolves are a product of evolution and are still evolving. Labs are creation of man selective breeding animals of a certain size, coat, build, and personality that were wanted for a retriever. Evolution takes millions of years, selective breeding to obtain an animal the size, build you want just a few litters. New breeds can be created in a few decades like the Dogo Argentino, that are created to fill specific wants.

[Colin]

First you have to believe in evolution.

Lol

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[AspenBud]

If you want to look at how genetics and highly selective breeding can lead to consistent results, look at English Pointers from trial lines. There is no other breed of bird dog that throws as consistent a set of traits and it's largely thanks to extensive line breeding and inbreeding in the breed.

Labs, setters, shorthairs, etc...they are all over the map because as breeds they have never had the degree of selectivity applied in breeding them that Pointers have in this country.

[Ireland Farms]

It's all about genetics, however the combination of both parents isn't necessarily going to produce pups exactly their size. A lot of breeders want size in their male, but he might be the exception to the other males produced by the same parents. It doesn't mean his pups are going to be bigger. Have you found out how much all your dogs siblings weigh?

[Happy Gilmore]

If you know more than the neighbors dogs brother and know the sire and dams siblings, what they have produced and followed other breedings in the line you will have a pretty good idea. If you breed a dog because you've seen them hunt once or, they do something impressive to you, you wont predict much accurately.

[PA BEN]

Vet shot visit yesterday my 18 week old male lab weighted in at 52 lbs. A male litter mate weighted in at 33 lbs the same day. Mine spends most of his time in his kennel. He is in great shape I work him and walk him everyday, I feed his Taste of the wild.