Dogs are disappearing the week before the San Francisco Dog Show. Cindy Nesbit, hired by Ch. Monarch "Rusty" Rustler's owner for added protection, discovers an attitude problem - Dane Wolf, the golden retriever's handler - who doesn't want help from some outside "security expert," but the owner prevails. When the dognappers attempt to steal Rusty, Cindy senses something about the scenario isn't right but can't figure what it is. As different breeds continue to disappear, no ransom notes are received. What's the motive? During the next theft, an owner is killed. Death, accidental or otherwise have increased the stakes; the dognappers have nothing to lose. Cindy and Wolf combine forces to find the stolen dogs and the killers. A disreputable kennel owned by a shady handler goes to the top of Cindy's suspect list, but when she visits the kennel at night, her snooping ends in disaster: she has found the missing dogs, but is caught and imprisoned in a dog crate. After a phone call to the "boss", her captor leaves to collect a fee for "taking care of the little problem." Wolf arrives in time to release Cindy, the police are notified and the dogs are returned to their owners. Despite assurances that the police will catch the perpetrators, Cindy uses her computer skills to trace the phone number of the "boss" - who turns out to be Rusty's owner. As part of the plea bargain, Cindy convinces the courts to turn over custody of Rusty to Dane Wolf. A proud Cindy watch the pair win the big prize at Westminster in New York.