Low light shots

So I attempted to take a few pics of the dogs at dusk(ish). The originals are petty dark until I adjusted the brightness/contrast on the photo editor to reflect the level of light I sould see with my eyes at the time. These were taken off hand about 15'-20' away so the flash didn't really reach them well. I was surprised they weren't all blurred out although a few of them did. I was having problems getting the autofocus to stay locked in at focus. So I just took the shot at the moment I could see the picture focused in the viewfinder. Any tricks to taking better night shots other than a tripod and remote?