He thought I was beside him. He never understood I was between him and the dark.

Laird was never just a dog. He was witness, guardian, companion, interruption, and quiet keeper of the days when silence became too heavy. Born on a farm and chosen by a man who had learned to live mostly apart from the world, Laird entered a life shaped by writing, solitude, chronic pain, long walks, deep stillness, and the fragile routines that hold a person together when everything else feels uncertain.

Told through Laird's imagined voice, Laird: Between Him and the Dark is a memoir of devotion, but not in the usual way. This is the story of a dog who believed his work was simple: stay close, watch carefully, bring his person back when he drifted too far inward, and love without measuring the cost. From the joy of open fields and absurd adventures with sticks, to the arrival of his sister Skye, the strange laws of cats, the slow shortening of walks, and the quiet understanding that something in the man he loved was always fighting to remain present, Laird tells the story as only a dog could.

At its heart, this book is about the bond between a person and the animal who sees more than anyone else. It is about how a dog can become a bridge between loneliness and life. It is about aging, grief, loyalty, humour, pain, and the everyday acts of rescue that often go unnoticed until the one who performed them is gone.

This is not a book about a perfect dog. It is about a real one. A dog who made mistakes, demanded walks, stole attention, misunderstood nothing important, and gave himself completely to the person who needed him most. It is also a tribute to every animal who has stood between someone and their darkest hours, asking for nothing more than to be loved, fed, followed, and remembered.

For readers who have loved and lost a dog, this story may hurt. It may also feel familiar. Because sometimes the animals who share our lives are not here merely to comfort us. Sometimes they are here to keep us tethered to the world.

Laird gave his love freely. This book was written to honour that gift.

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