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t-dog
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I believe all species evolve. Hogs, they tend to run more now than they did 30 years ago. In my opinion it makes sense. The hogs with the fight before flight mentality get caught and killed first. The next largest group of hogs to die are the dumb ones and then the slow ones. So with fewer of these three types breeding, naturally fewer of these three types are being born. So the flight before fight, intelligent, faster hogs are breeding hogs with the same characteristics. If you turn out a mean, eager to fight boar and he starts breeding sows, some of those offspring are going to be like him and like the sow. Him and the offspring like him are likely going to get killed or caught before the majority of the runners. After a couple generations those fighters are going to be bred out again. Southern cattle taken north where the winters are harsh are just like the fighting hogs. The northern cattle have more hair because the ones that had more hair were the ones that were able to survive. The smart hairy ones lived to reproduce while the less hairy, dumb ones died. I raised a family of catch dogs for years. They were very similar because I selected for type and similarity in style. They started very early and rarely had to be shown where the ear was. I don’t think was so because I let the mother catch ear while she was pregnant. I think it was so because I had selectively bred those type of dogs together over and over. Some studs are dominate but not most (dogs, horses, etc.). I don’t believe the freaks are any different. I think it’s just more obvious because there have more expectations and emphasis placed on them. Their daughters are going to be the reproducers like Goose said. Many, maybe even a majority of offspring are more similar to their grandparents than their parents. It’s exactly why we have to consider pedigrees immediately after we evaluate performance when choosing brood stock. Genetic selection is absolutely necessary to accomplish our breeding goals but that being said I don’t think it’s the same as epigenetics. I’m not sure how removed from one another they are. I don’t consider the examples I used to be epigentic related but plain genetic selection. I’m not sure if I truly believe in a lot of the epigenetic “theories”. I honestly need to do more reading about it myself. I do believe that the mother contributes certain genes to every puppy. That I consider to be epigentic and believable.
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