Social worker Bernie (Don Cheadle) has placed sibling orhpans, 11 year old Bruce (Jake T. Austin) and 16 year old Andi (Emma Roberts) in more foster homes than he can count. Current foster mom Lois (Lisa Kudrow) and foster dad Carl (Kevin Dillon) are more interested in becoming rockstars than nurturing children, and they’re really only providing the basic, state-mandated necessities. They’re definitely not providing for Bruce and Andi’s dog Friday (Cosmo the dog) so the kids are forced to hide him. Poor Friday is little more than a street dog these days, and the kids are considering giving him to a home who can take better care of him, though they’re loathe to give up a furry friend their parents adopted as a puppy just before they died.

Good thing they stumble upon an abandoned old hotel AND 11 year old Bruce just happens to be something of an…engineering savant? Pretty soon they’ve not just got cozy digs for Friday but they’re providing sanctuary for all the homeless mutts in the vicinity. Which sounds like a nice thing except you know how those insatiable dog catchers are: relentless. The dog pound is strangely empty but they’re not going to let sleeping dogs lie, even when there’s 3 cute pups sleeping together like a French Bulldog sandwich.

Okay so it’s a ridiculous premise, all right? But full of cute dogs. Plus it’s no more ridiculous than the hotel we’re staying in, which does in fact have dogs – two Mexican hairless dogs named Luna and Pek who, between them, manage an awfully good impression of Diego, the dog from Coco, also a Xoloitzcuintli. But they’ve also got donkeys called Lupillo and Pepito, ducks, rabbits, goats, and 2 pigs that were rescued from a live nativity scene. Now if you can tell me what the hell pigs were doing at the birth of jesus christ, I will mail you ten dollars. Not even pesos. Dollars!