Billy trains his dogs to become hunting dogs. They often mess up. Billy does not give up and continues to encourage them. He soon makes a strong loving bond with his dogs. In the end, Billy's dogs grow ill and weak and later die. He buries them on his family's farm to remember them. Soon, Billy sees a red fern growing over his dogs' graves. He sees the red fern as a symbol of the love that kept him and his dogs together.