Three pets (Chance, a young dog unfamiliar with the world; Shadow, an aging, wise dog; and Sassy, a snobby cat) are left behind when their family goes on vacation. Unsure of what happened, the animals set out on a quest to find their family. This journey across America is very dangerous and the animals risk never seeing their masters again. The group of pets travel across forested mountains and areas of wide-open countryside, while their family searches for them in the same areas.

In Urbania, Ohio, snobby ex-football star Kevin O'Shea conducts try-outs for the town's Peewee football team, the Urbania Cowboys, which will compete for a chance at the state Peewee football playoffs. Kevin slights his younger brother Danny O'Shea by rejecting Danny's daughter Becky "Icebox" O'Shea, who is a good player. Kevin rejected her simply because she's a girl. Becky and some of her friends, boys who were also rejected, get the idea to start up their own team, to be coached by Danny....