Picture-perfect pooches. Their fawning owners. Stern judges. The frenetic spectacle of Crufts fully comes to life in Top Dogs. This two-part series from Apple TV – streaming exclusively on Apple Vision Pro – uses Apple Immersive Video to bring you face-to-face (or face-to-snout) with a few of the event’s 25,000 hopefuls.

Director and narrator John Dower has been making documentaries for over two decades, but Top Dogs was his first foray into Apple Immersive Video. “I could see it was going to be brilliant for the action sequences, such as the agility and flyball competitions,” says Dower. “You could be with the dogs as they’re jumping over the hurdles and fetching the ball.”

But Dower was most surprised by the intimacy the format brought to “observational material” – those wide, pulled-back shots where the viewer decides what to focus on.

“Directors don’t shoot it as much anymore,” he says. “They put people in a chair, get them to tell a story, then cover it with these over-stylised action-reconstruction sequences. But you’re not making a drama; this is a documentary.”

To capture the footage with as much realism as possible, the crew positioned a dozen cameras around the event – including ones hidden in boxes wrapped in the show floor’s green carpet.

Magical moments pop up throughout the series’ two episodes: Groomers frantically try to find the right brush at their stations in the crowded hall. Fastidious judges scrutinise dogs that hold as still as statues. And Top Dogs offers a view few have access to. The judges pace just a few feet in front of you, as though you’re sitting on the show floor.

As gripping as it may be to watch thousands of dogs vie to be crowned Best in Show, the series devotes far more time to what you wouldn’t normally see: stories of the canines and their companions.

In Dower’s eyes, “a good documentary should be an empathy machine” – something Apple Immersive Video excels at. Face-to-face interviews feel incredibly intimate; subjects radiate excitement as they sit across from you.

At one point in the documentary, a handler tries (unsuccessfully) to bring a pooch closer to her – and into the centre of your field of vision. “You actually feel her trying to move the dog toward her – and by nature of the format, you,” says Dower. “Immersive video makes even the smallest moments feel big.”

One advantage of getting a 180-degree, 8K view of an event is all the delightful moments captured in a frame – many of which you may not catch on first viewing. During the flyball competition, we found ourselves so distracted by the relay that we missed the humans reloading the balls for the next dog. In another shot, you can make out a gold necklace peeking out from under the fur of a pomeranian.

Even Dower, who’s viewed the footage countless times, discovered an endearing detail during a recent rewatch: an adorable dog poking its head into the frame to get its owner’s attention. “Top Dogs is great for repeated viewings,” says Dower. And while most of the series is presented with a mix of 2D and immersive video, Top Dogs also leverages 3D graphics – such as a helpful explainer of how the competition works.

For Dower, who came into the project with a lifelong fear of dogs, making the series has been therapeutic. “This is going to sound quite corny, but I went on a genuine journey – not only learning to use immersive technology, but also literally going through immersion therapy,” he says. “To have a fear of dogs and be put in an environment where there are over 25,000 – the exposure cured me.”