Whether it's the pampered pups of New York, to a pack of 60 sled dogs, across the world there are pooches with stories worth telling. That's the concept of the Top Dog Film Festival, which heads to Canberra later this month. With nine short films, spreading over two hours, the line-up aims to shed light on the different lives dogs lead across the world, as well as the diverse relationships they have with humans.

"You can't go past those stories about the amazing impact that dogs have on people's lives," festival director Jemima Robinson says.

"But there's always a happy ending. Lots of people worry they're going to cry and we won't guarantee that there won't be tears but they'll be tears of joy because no one gets hurt."

For Robinson, it doesn't get much more tear-jerking than Surfing with Sugar. A story of redemption, this is a film about Ryan Rustan who grew up on the wrong side of the tracks in California and spent his life in and out of prison. That was until he rescued Sugar, a street dog.

"It's the first time [Ryan Rustan] has experienced unconditional love in his life," Robinson says.

"And so he's totally transformed his life and his ways because he's now got someone relying on him and this dog has had such a massive impact on him and his life and now they're actually a surfing duo and they win all of these dog surfing competitions in the US.

"He kind of looks like he's been in prison a few times but when he talks about this dog he's just a complete marshmallow. When nothing else has managed to keep him out of prison, just to think that one little stray street dog will have that powerful impact over his life, it's amazing."

It all started after Robinson saw a movie at an adventure sports film festival in Canada.

"It was a 20-minute movie and it was about the sports that people do with their dogs ... where you are in a team with your dog," she says.

"I just found it so fascinating. And I came back to Australia and I've got a few dog-loving friends and I was just like 'you need to watch this movie, it's really fantastic' and they were like 'how can I see it?'.

"Because it was a 20-minute movie, it doesn't fit on TV, it doesn't really fit in the movies so there was no real way for people to see that movie."

That was, until the first festival in 2017. They have continued to get submissions about man's best friend since, through the Top Dog website.

It's hard to go wrong with a dog film; as Robinson puts it "everyone loves dogs". That's probably why the festival is now in its third year in Australia and has since had screenings in New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Belgium.

"You can watch any movie at home or streamed online these days but people still go to the cinema, and for us certainly, the Top Dog Film Festival is bringing together a dog-loving community and that shared love of dogs, being in a full cinema and finding out these stories."