尼洛和爷爷相依为命,住在安特卫普镇的北方。爷孙两人靠运送牛奶维生。在教堂里有幅画深深影响着尼洛,这是让尼洛热衷于绘画的原因……尼洛在运送牛奶的途中,看到了受到五金行老板虐待的狗帕奇,心中念念不忘帕奇被欺负的情景,不知帕奇会再和尼洛有任何的奇遇吗?Poor but happy, young Nello and his grandfather live alone, delivering milk as a livelihood, in the outskirts of Antwerp, a city in Flanders (the Flemish or Dutch-speaking part of modern-day Belgium). They discover a beaten dog (a Bouvier, a large sturdy dog native to Flanders) and adopt it and nurse it back to health, naming it Patrasche, the middle name of Nello's mother Mary, who died when Nello was very young. Nello's mother was a talented artist, and like his mother, he delights in drawing, and his friend Aloise is his model and greatest fan and supporter.