I imagine being dead (maybe long enough to be a bit swollen) makes it look a little worse, as well, but it sure looks like a dog to me.

Hey, Little Hawk, up-thread there: I don't doubt it's possible that wild dog packs are roaming the back country, but your friend's description would fit the big coyotes that live here (Maritimes). Being a furriner, and a birdman, would he recognize a coyote if he saw one? The Eastern coyotes are much larger than the Western ones, and they do pack up, often. They have quite a lot of wolf behaviors, and there are some respectable naturalists who think they may be a result of coyotes breeding with the last of the Algonquin Red Wolves.

Coyotes here eat cats, frequently, and will lure and kill domestic dogs, have been seen packing up to kill deer, and sometimes make quite a racket at night.