Bud McClelland is given a shepherd puppy named "Treve" as a Christmas present by his loving father. A few months later, his father dies, and all his father's assets, including their small ranch, are sold at auction. Despite Bud's desperate pleas, Treve is also auctioned off, and bought by the brutal rancher, Watling. Broken-hearted, Bud takes his few remaining possessions, his horse and his parrot, and heads down the open road, hoping to start a new life. Only a few miles from their old home, the trio is joined by a runaway Treve, and the quartet happily heads off for adventure. While attending the Codyville County Fair, Bud comes up with the idea of starting an animal act with his menagerie. On their way into town, Treve discovers a lamb with its head stuck in a fence. When Bud tries to dislodge the frightened animal, its owner, Aileen Fenno, arrives and accuses him of theft, but when she realizes the truth, she invites Bud and his animals to her home for lunch. At her ranch house, Aileen warns Bud to hide Treve from her Uncle Joel, as he hates dogs with a passion. Unfortunately, their meal is disrupted when Uncle Joel discovers Treve and orders the group to leave his property. Treve, however, discovers a flock of lost sheep and herds them back into their corral. As a result of this, Bud is asked to stay on at the Fenno ranch as a helper, and soon he and Treve become valuable assets. On a chance meeting with Mr. and Mrs. Davis, a city couple, Bud is convinced to enter Treve in the dog show at the Codyville County Fair. Uncle Joel, meanwhile, has decided to shoot Treve to rid himself of the dog once and for all, but is unable to pull the trigger when the time comes. When Treve saves Uncle Joel from a cougar, the old man changes his ways, and he and the dog becomes fast friends. At the dog show, Treve captures a wide assortment of prizes, but Bud's happiness is short-lived when Watling arrives and claims the dog as his own. When Bud and the cruel rancher fight over the dog, Bud is arrested and put in jail; Treve, in the meantime, disappears. Upon his release, Bud returns to the Fenno ranch to learn that a three-legged animal has been killing off sheep. As the sheep ranchers begin a hunt for the killer, Treve returns, covered in blood and walking on three legs. Immediately, the ranchers decide that Treve is the killer and demand that he be destroyed. As the dog is about to be executed, the government hunter arrives with the real killer, a three-legged wolf. The government hunter tells how he watched Treve track down the wolf and defeat it in a vicious battle. Treve is not only spared, but becomes a hero to all. With their problems all solved, Bud and Aileen finally find time for a romantic alliance.