Co-killing with my pal Jupiter

I just partook in a killing with Jupiter, our slightly wolfy dog, who is a natural hunter. He listens with his gigantic, triangular ears. He stalks. He captures, but he doesn't always finish the job, so to speak. He is a bit of a fraidy cat, not to mention a whiner, which is funny because he's so wild in some aspects. He sniffed out a mouse in our backyard along the fence just now. He had a funny look on his face and our daycare puppy was licking at his mouth ecstatically. Jupiter's lips were sealed. I bet on it, and I was right: he had a mouse in there!

Out came the tail, then the hind legs. The poor creature was drowning in drool but nowhere being dead yet. Jupiter dropped it, then jumped back as it began to wriggle and crawl away. He picked it up carefully and tried to chew it, but couldn't seem to stomach it. I felt like I was watching the most recent episode of Survivor. I'm really not sure what stopped him - what stops him. This happened over the course of a couple minutes. I gave him a chance to do the right thing. Finally, however, I decided to step in. The mouse was clearly suffering with no end in sight. I grabbed a nearby metal pot that we use as a sound distraction tool for the dogs, and I made Jupy drop the mouse. I smashed its little head three or four times until I was sure it was dead (i.e. all the guts flew out). I did this with all the love in my heart for the mouse. It was very strange. But I did feel relieved after.