Theory No. 1: Kristi Noem is an incredibly bad politician....
Theory No. 2: Kristi Noem is trying to impress Trump, and he hates dogs....
Theory No. 3: Kristi Noem wants off Trump’s VP shortlist....
Ugh! Poorly done!
My 3 reasons are all so much better:
Althouse Theory No. 1: There were witnesses, so the story would almost surely come out in some form eventually, and Noem chose to control the narrative, telling it in her own words, in her book.
Althouse Theory No. 2: It was a trap to lure coastal-elite people into displaying their arrogance and ignorance. After they have their say, she's predicting, lots of working class people will step up and make fools out of them for failing to understand difficult, down-to-earth farm work and bird hunting.
Althouse Theory No. 3: Noem wanted to counter a stereotype about women, that we are too empathetic and indecisive, and she thought the anecdote about shooting the chicken-killing, person-biting dog showed her fitness to serve as Commander in Chief.