After beating the competition at the nationals, the Jack family prepares for the International World of Wiener Dog Racing. Without parental consent, the kids must sneak off to the races, otherwise their notorious, beloved underdog, Shelly, will have to forfeit her U.S. title at the competition. But the stiff competition leads several of the other countries to get involved in foul play that only the real winners can sniff out!

In an invisible territory at the margins of society, at the border between anarchy and illegality, lives a wounded community that is trying to respond to a threat: of being forgotten by political institutions and having their rights as citizens trampled. Disarmed veterans, taciturn adolescents, drug addicts trying to escape addiction through love, ex-special forces soldiers still at war with the world, floundering young women and future mothers, and old people who have not lost their desire to live. Through this hidden pocket of humanity, the door opens to the abyss of today’s America.

When Melanie and Phil ask their son Danny what he wants for his birthday, they are greeted with the response that every parent dreads: a dog. When Danny selects his dog from the local shelter he lovingly names her Shelly in honour of all sheltered dogs. Realising that Shelly has a talent, Danny decides to enter her in the illustrious Wiener Dog Nationals race. Only one thing stands in their way: Ms Merryweather and her champion dog Princess.