Robyn, they knew there was a creature out there that even stalked a child. Having the dog with them, off leash, out at dusk was a foolish risk in my opinion. It says she thought the dog was sniffing around– so not sure if that meant she wasn't even watching the dog and thought it was just checking things out (stupid) OR the dog seemed to be scenting something (STILL STUPID) and she stayed. And yeah, she should have had a gun just to protect even herself. It was an unnecessary risk.
