Abhishek Joshi runs Dog with Blog and has reviewed dog documentaries and films here for years, from Pick of the Litter to Heart of a Dog. No affiliation with Netflix or the show’s producers, just someone who watches everything dog-related so you don’t have to sort the misses from the ones worth your evening.
Netflix Dogs reviews have been sparkling through web pages worldwide, and for all the right reasons. When the cute thumbnail of a husky showed up on my Netflix curated watch list, little did I know of what was to come with the genre-bender. What I didn’t know back in 2018: this was only half the story. Netflix quietly added a second season in 2021, and it barely got the conversation Season 1 did.
Dogs is created by Glen Zipper, executive produced with Amy Berg, spanning the US, Syria, Italy, Japan, Costa Rica, and eventually Brazil and space itself. The directors shifted the camera away from dogs’ loyalty as a given and onto the human stories underneath it, balancing sentiment with real humour. Ten episodes across two seasons, and this review now covers every one of them.
Season 1 (2018)
1. The Kid with a Dog
Corrine, 11, lives with epilepsy and is waiting on Rory, a service dog. The episode follows a 12-day training camp where service dogs meet the children they’ll be matched with. Recalibrates what you think a dog can do for a person.
2. Bravo, Zeus
Ayham, a Syrian refugee in Berlin, tries to reunite with Zeus, the dog he left behind in war-torn Damascus, staying connected through FaceTime calls. From Manto’s Dog of Tetwal to Spielberg’s War Horse, artists have tried to bring this same truth home: a dog left behind is its own kind of grief.
3. Ice on the Water
Alessandro, an Italian fisherman on Lake Como, and his ageing Lab, Ice, work the same declining waters his family always has. Directed by Emmy-winning filmmaker Richard Hankin. Quiet, slow, the kind of episode that sneaks up on you, in the same register as Laurie Anderson’s Heart of a Dog.
4. Scissors Down
Japanese groomer Kenichi Nagase competes on the U.S. circuit. His line stays with you: “Human relationships are so complex. Dogs make life simple. Dogs never betray your trust.” (If styling is more your speed than sobbing, our dog grooming guide picks up where this leaves off.)
5. Territorio de Zaguates
Costa Rica’s free-range sanctuary, spread across hundreds of acres and housing nearly a thousand dogs, fighting for its future against municipal oversight. Chaotic, hopeful, the closest thing the show has to a mission statement.
6. Second Chances
Anna, running the rescue Hearts and Bones, transports at-risk dogs across the country to forever homes in New York City. If you’ve ever wondered what that work actually looks like day to day, this is it.
Dogs don’t just make us feel loved, dogs make us feel safe.
Glen Zipper
Love. Friendship. Companionship. Loyalty. We all want these qualities in our lives, and dogs guarantee us each and every one.
Glen Zipper
Season 2 (2021), the part everyone skips
7. Much Ado About Blue
Trip, Butler University’s bulldog mascot (Butler Blue III), retires after seven years on the job. His handler Michael Kaltenmark undergoes a kidney transplant, donated by his brother, filmed during the same stretch as the handover to the new mascot, Blue IV. Sounds like a university PR story on paper. Isn’t.
8. Space for Dogs
A former astronaut takes his Ridgebacks on a road trip to honour his deceased crewmates from the Space Shuttle Columbia. One of the most unexpectedly moving hours in the whole series.
9. It Takes a Village Dog
An American veteran works to bring home a stray puppy he bonded with in Iraq. Bureaucracy versus love, and love does the work.
10. The Protectors
A priest in Brazil runs a grassroots street-dog rescue network on nothing but persistence and a community behind him.
Season 2 trades some of Season 1’s scale for intimacy. If you loved the show and never got past 2018, this is the half you’re missing.
More dog documentaries worth your time
If Season 2 hit you as hard as it hit us:
- Pick of the Litter follows five Labrador puppies through guide-dog training. Less heartbreak, more heart.
- Land of the Strays stays closer to home, and closer to the kind of rescue work we cover here.
- Want the full list? Our roundup of the best dog movies based on real dogs covers the scripted side of the same territory.
Is there a Season 3?
Not yet, as far as we can confirm. Dogs has stayed at two seasons and 10 episodes since 2021, with no Netflix renewal or cancellation announcement either way. Here’s the update note from when this page first caught wind of a new season, the wish still stands, now aimed correctly at Season 3 instead of what turned out to be Season 2:
Update: I hope Season 3 of #Dogs features a story from closer home, maybe that of Pratima Devi, Balu, Hanuman, Padmini Stump, or Sardar Baljeet Singh.
Quick answers
How many episodes does Dogs have on Netflix? Ten, across two seasons: six in Season 1 (2018) and four in Season 2 (2021).
Is Dogs based on true stories? Yes. Every episode follows a real person and their real dog, filmed as a documentary, not dramatised.
Who created Dogs on Netflix? Glen Zipper, with Amy Berg as executive producer.
Is Dogs coming back for Season 3? No confirmation from Netflix either way as of September 2026. The show has been dormant since 2021.
Which episode of Dogs is the saddest? Most viewers point to “Bravo, Zeus” from Season 1. From Season 2, “Space for Dogs” catches people off guard.
Every dog in this series had someone who didn’t give up on them. That’s true of the ones waiting in shelters right now too. If any of this makes you want to be that person, our adoption directory has real dogs waiting, not just streaming ones.
Read next
- Okja review — The best thing on Netflix you’d watch this year!Dogged reviews!
- Heart of the Beast Review: The Dog Lives, and Brad Pitt Knows Who the Star IsDogged reviews!
- Ohh My Dog (2026) Review: The Real Stars Are Two Indian Street Dogs Named Bruno and OscarDogged reviews!
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