Detective Scott Turner is an uptight, by-the-book police officer who hopes to leave his sleepy California town and work in the big city. When his friend Amos Reed, the proprietor of a junkyard, is killed, Turner reluctantly inherits the man's dog. Realising that the canine may be able to help him solve the murder case, Turner attempts to adjust to life with the big dog, resulting in much household destruction and unwelcome chaos.