It just so happened that Annie's lead was hung up on a chunk of ice, so she was stuck at a bit of a distance, which turned out to be helpful. I let Dottie into the back porch with her "prize," keeping her on her lead for the moment. Then I went and un-stuck Annie's lead, so she could reach the door. But then I had Annie wait outside the door, while I went to go get something as high value as I could find, to convince Dottie to let go of her prize. I ended up having to drop a handful of tasty tidbits (beef liver) on the floor, then when she dropped the rodent to eat those up, I quickly snatched up the rodent in the "mud towel" I had on the floor. Then I was able to let Dottie off her lead and in the house, then I could let Annie in without risk of a fight.
After getting a good look at the creature, I discarded it in the dumpster outside, since it was not something I was interested in cleaning and cooking. (After a google search on the internet, I was able to identify the creature as a pocket gopher. I had never seen one before!) I'm certain the gopher was freshly killed by Dottie, because it was warm and soft, and not stiff or frozen. However, as a testament to Dottie's soft mouth, the gopher did not bear any apparent injury at all, aside from a string of drool on it's wet fur.
Believe it or not, I'm rather proud of my little hunting dog.
I really don't want my backyard infested by a city of gophers! And it was apparent by her posture that Dottie was rather proud of herself as well. Anyway, the reason I posted this here in "Articles" is to help those who are new to owning a dog that hunts and actually kills things. Getting "yucky" prize away from a very proud and possessive hunter is a delicate matter, requiring very careful handling and tact. When the situation is compounded by a second dog in the mix, it can become very dangerous if not handled just right.
