The Best Dog Movies and TV Shows on Kanopy

What it's about: Held captive for 7 years in an enclosed space, a woman and her young son finally gain their freedom, allowing the boy to experience the outside world for the first time.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a subscription service (fuboTV, Showtime, Hoopla & 1 other), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Showtime) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Ricky is a defiant young city kid who finds himself on the run with his cantankerous foster uncle in the wild New Zealand bush. A national manhunt ensues, and the two are forced to put aside their differences and work together to survive.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix, Hulu, Hoopla & 1 other) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Part-time model Valentine meets a retired judge who lives in her neighborhood after she runs over his dog. At first the judge gifts Valentine with the dog, but her possessive boyfriend won't allow her to keep it. When she returns with the dog to the judge's house, she discovers him listening in on his neighbors' phone conversations. At first Valentine is outraged, but her debates with the judge over his behavior soon leads them to form a strange bond.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 2 services (iTunes & Prime Video).

What it's about: A punk rock band becomes trapped in a secluded venue after finding a scene of violence. For what they saw, the band themselves become targets of violence from a gang of white power skinheads, who want to eliminate all evidence of the crime.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $0.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: When elderly pensioner Umberto Domenico Ferrari returns to his boarding house from a protest calling for a hike in old-age pensions, his landlady demands her 15,000-lire rent by the end of the month or he and his small dog will be turned out onto the street. Unable to get the money in time, Umberto fakes illness to get sent to a hospital, giving his beloved dog to the landlady's pregnant and abandoned maid for temporary safekeeping.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX, The Criterion Channel & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 2 services (iTunes & Prime Video).

What it's about: The true story of Marine Corporal Megan Leavey, who forms a powerful bond with an aggressive combat dog, Rex. While deployed in Iraq, the two complete more than 100 missions and save countless lives, until an IED explosion puts their faithfulness to the test.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Hulu & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Based on the legendary true story of the Red Dog who united a disparate local community while roaming the Australian outback in search of his long lost master.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Google Play & Vudu).

What it's about: A boy, obsessed with comparing himself with those less fortunate, experiences a different life at the home of his aunt and uncle in 1959 Sweden.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX, The Criterion Channel & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: Secure within a desolate home as an unnatural threat terrorizes the world, a man has established a tenuous domestic order with his wife and son, but this will soon be put to test when a desperate young family arrives seeking refuge.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: When legendary hunter Bob Rainsford is shipwrecked on the perilous reefs surrounding a mysterious island, he finds himself the guest of the reclusive and eccentric Count Zaroff. While he is very gracious at first, Zaroff eventually forces Rainsford and two other shipwreck survivors, brother and sister Eve and Martin Towbridge, to participate in a sadistic game of cat and mouse in which they are the prey and he is the hunter.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi & PopcornFlix), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, HBO MAX, Epix & 2 others), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix) & rent or buy from $2.00 on 4 services (Google Play, Prime Video & 2 others).

What it's about: A man returns to his Appalachian homestead. On the trip, he falls for a young woman. The only problem is her family has vowed to kill every member of his family.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a subscription service (Kanopy).

What it's about: In the center of the story is the life of the indigenous people of the village Bakhtia at the river Yenisei in the Siberian Taiga. The camera follows the protagonists in the village over a period of a year. The natives, whose daily routines have barely changed over the last centuries, keep living their lives according to their own cultural traditions.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a subscription service (Fandor, Hoopla & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Wendy, a near-penniless drifter, is traveling to Alaska in search of work, and her only companion is her dog, Lucy. Already perilously close to losing everything, Wendy hits a bigger bump in the road when her old car breaks down and she is arrested for shoplifting dog food. When she posts bail and returns to retrieve Lucy, she finds that the dog is gone, prompting a frantic search for her pet.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Kanopy & Sundance Now) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: Rex is a loner, and when he's told he doesn't have long to live, he embarks on an epic drive through the Australian outback from Broken Hill to Darwin to die on his own terms; but his journey reveals to him that before you can end your life, you have to live it, and to live it, you've got to share it.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Epix & Kanopy), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 1 service (iTunes).

What it's about: After having narrowly escaped an attempt on his life at the hands of a psychopath, detective inspector Takakura quits active service in the police force and takes up a position as a university lecturer in criminal psychology. But his desire to get to the bottom of criminals’ motives remains, and he does not hesitate long when former colleague Nogami asks him to reopen an old case.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Mubi & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $4.99 on 2 services (iTunes & Prime Video).

What it's about: On the way to California, a family has the misfortune to have their car break down in an area closed to the public, and inhabited by violent savages ready to attack.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a subscription service (Shudder, The Criterion Channel, Hoopla & 1 other) & rent or buy from $0.99 on 2 services (iTunes & Vudu).

What it's about: A young woman who dreams of being a children's author makes an unlikely friendship with a cantankerous, rich old widower.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi, PlutoTV & Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Hoopla & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Set in the year 2024 in post-apocalyptic America, 18-year old Vic and his telepathic dog, Blood, are scavengers in the desolate wilderness ravaged by World War IV, where survivors must battle for food, shelter, and sexual companionship in the desert-like wasteland. Vic and Blood eke out a meager existence, foraging for food and fighting gangs of cutthroats.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi, PlutoTV, IMDb TV & 2 others), stream on a subscription service (Hoopla, Kanopy & Shout Factory TV) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 2 services (Prime Video & Microsoft).

What it's about: The little nomad girl, Nansal, finds a baby dog in the Mongolian veld, who becomes her best friend - against all rejections of her parents. A story about a Mongolian family of nomads - their traditional way of life and the rising call of the City.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a subscription service (Kanopy) & stream on a TV everywhere service (TCM).

What it's about: 10 years after a global economic collapse, a hardened loner pursues the men who stole his car through the lawless wasteland of the Australian outback, aided by the brother of one of the thieves.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a subscription service (Showtime, Hoopla & Kanopy), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Showtime) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Euthanizer tells the story of a mechanic who euthanises sick and old pets as a side job. Despite the grim work, he has a soft spot for the animals. Trouble stirs when the owner of a dog he was supposed to end realises that the canine is still alive. The only innocent party in the drama that ensues is the dog itself.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Hoopla & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Ava, 13, is spending the summer on the Atlantic coast when she learns that she will lose her sight sooner than expected. Her mother decides to act as if everything were normal so as to spend their best summer ever. Ava confronts the problem in her own way. She steals a big black dog that belongs to a young man on the run...

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Hoopla & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $4.99 on 2 services (iTunes & Prime Video).

What it's about: A man bumps into an old crush and becomes obsessed. After several failed attempts at winning her over, he kidnaps her and holds her captive underneath the animal shelter where he works.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi, PlutoTV & Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: In which Scheherazade tells of how desolation invaded men : “It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that a Judge will cry instead of giving out her sentence. A runaway murderer will wander through the land for over forty days and will teletransport himself to escape the Guard while dreaming of prostitutes and partridges. A wounded cow will reminisce about a thousand-year-old olive tree while saying what she must say, which will sound none less than sad ! The residents of a tower block in the suburbs will save parrots and piss inside lifts while surrounded by dead people and ghosts; including in fact a dog that…”. And seeing the morning break, Scheherazade fell silent.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a subscription service (Kanopy) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: When two youngsters meet and fall for each other, they must go on the run from the girl's corrupt father, who is also the sheriff of the town.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix, Hoopla & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Reg and Lindsay run an organic fertiliser business. They need a fresh supply of their "secret ingredient" to process through the meat grinder. Reg comes across two guys and a girl with a broken-down vehicle on their way to a music festival.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PopcornFlix), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Hoopla & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: As a Labrador puppy, Quill is sent to live with a couple, Isamu and Mitsuko Nii, who work as volunteers, training guide dogs (seeing eye dogs). When he grows to an adult dog, he is taken to a guide dog school, by a friendly, yet firm trainer Satoru Tawada. Although Quill is a little slower than the other dogs at the school, he seems to have an unusual 'empathy' and remarkable patience with his trainers. Tawada decides that Quill would be the ideal guide dog for Mitsuru Watanabe, but Wanatabe, a lonely and ill-tempered middle aged man, isn't as enthusiastic - he would "would rather sleep than be dragged around by a dog.". From here, the story is narrated by Wanatabe's daughter, Mitsuko, and slowly, Wantanbe is rehabilitated, venturing into the outside world, and learning, not only to trust other humans, but the animal at his side who guides him.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a subscription service (Hoopla & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: "It's a simple subject. A married woman and a single man meet. They love each other, fight, blows rain down. A dog wanders between town and countryside. Seasons pass. The man and woman get back together. The dog comes between them. The other is in one of them. One of them is in the other. And then there are three people. The ex-husband makes everything explode. A second film begins. The same as the first. And yet, not. From the human species, we move on to metaphor. It will end in barking. And a baby's cries." JLG

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a subscription service (Hoopla & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 2 services (iTunes & Google Play).

What it's about: The Tramp and his dog companion struggle to survive in the inner city.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX, The Criterion Channel & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $0.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: An orphan bear cub hooks up with an adult male as they try to dodge human hunters.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX, HBO & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 2 services (Google Play & Prime Video).

What it's about: Buster is thrown off a train near an amusement park. There he gets a job in a shooting gallery run by the Blinking Buzzards mob. Ordered to kill a businessman, he winds up protecting the man and his daughter by outfitting their home with trick devices.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a subscription service (Kanopy).

What it's about: Set in the Ozark Mountains during the Great Depression, Billy Coleman works hard and saves his earnings for 2 years to achieve his dream of buying two coonhound pups. He develops a new trust in God as he faces overwhelming challenges in adventure and tragedy roaming the river bottoms of Cherokee country with "Old Dan" and "Little Ann."

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PlutoTV & Vudu) & stream on a subscription service (Kanopy).

What it's about: Shot over three years, Pariah Dog paints a kaleidoscopic picture of the city of Kolkata, seen through the prism of four outsiders and the dogs they love. These men and women have found meaning and purpose in their shared mission to care for neglected street dogs, who have existed in the towns and villages of India for thousands of years. For some this mission is enough, for others, dreams of a better life are always near.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a subscription service (Kanopy).

What it's about: Roger and Doris are a childless couple who get more than they bargained for when a strange child appears at their door one day.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $0.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: A woman is pursued by her murderous, psychopathic twin sister in the days leading up to their birthday.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a subscription service (Shudder & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $0.99 on 1 service (iTunes).

What it's about: Dogs of Democracy is an essay-style documentary about the stray dogs of Athens and the people who take care of them. Author and first-time filmmaker Mary Zournazi explores life on the streets through the eyes of the dogs and peoples' experience. Shot in location in Athens, the birthplace of democracy, the documentary is about how Greece has become the 'stray dogs of Europe', and how the dogs have become a symbol of hope for the people and for the anti- austerity movement. A universal story about love and loyalty and what we might learn from animals and peoples' timeless quest for democracy.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Hoopla & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $0.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: A man travels by foot in the snow with his dog.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a subscription service (Kanopy).