Dog story

I've been wanting to blog about my dog Max for a while. Today my mum emailed me this story, which only serves to confirm my prejudice that she's one of the smartest dogs I know and our other dog Happy is still an idiot:

Oh must tell you that early last Monday morning, about 3.30 a.m., I heard loud barking downstairs. I couldn't sleep and the barking went on and on, so I decided to check things out. Turned out that Max was at the back porch, barking ferociously at a wild animal. I thought it might be a civet cat (long tail, pointed ears). At one point, Max caught hold of the animal and sunk her teeth in it and started swinging it round and round. Max totally ignored me and I decided that I'd better get Pa's help. Roused him and he managed to get Max away from the animal. Then we kept Max in the enclosed area where the back kitchen is. Papa got a pail of water and a brush and washed away the blood. The animal was lying on the ground but got up in a defensive stance when Pa approached it. So Pa just left some water for it and we left it alone. And where was Happy all this time? She showed up after a while. She was scared and kept well away from Max. Anyway, we put the dogs in the office corridor overnight. Wah, Max kept drinking water after the ordeal. She must have been totally exhausted. Next morning, the animal was gone.

I learned some things: Max is a real fighter; she is courageous and 'wild'. While I did not want the animal to hurt her, I also did not want her to kill the animal. And I was scared of the animal too, I guess. What would you have done if you were here?