Credit to my fiance with a special interest in evolutionary biology and the history of human domestication of other species (and who is also currently HIGH AS HELL).
I found this extraordinarily unhelpful article:
Many dogs, including Labradors, were specifically bred to retrieve certain items for their human owners.
I guess precisely what those objects were was not of paramount importance to the author.
But I also found this, which suggests the answer is no:
Whether it was fetching ducks, birds or other game, these dogs knew their job. They were also bred for an attribute known as ‘soft mouth’, a combination of physical traits and attitude that meant they could carry the game without damaging it. If you have a retriever, you’ve probably noticed how gentle they can be during fetch.
“Soft mouth” means they don’t bite what they’re retrieving. Spears and arrows don’t need “soft mouth”. Plus a dog can be trained to “point” to something or just run it out. Why waste a spear or an arrow or a bullet when you have a pack of hounds that will run out the coon, fox, etc? Let the dogs do the work - there’s no need for a spear when the deer collapses from exhaustion.
I turn my back for a few weeks and this is the sort of shit you guys get up to? 😜
