A black Lab dog, Max, is abandoned as a puppy and adopted by a landscaper. They live in a ranch house across from a golf course where they and neighbors take their dogs on walks. Max befriends other dogs until their masters show prejudice. Max and his best dog pal leave in a winter snow storm and meet an Hispanic couple with the wife about to give birth on Christmas Eve. Max and his friend find them shelter in an allegory of The Nativity and all ends well with the dogs' masters finding them and restoring the centuries-old pact between man and dog.