‘Pick of the Litter’ Review

We could really sum this movie up in two sentences: The world is hard. Watch these puppies.

But there's actually a lot more to the story of Pick of the Litter than puppy distraction. The documentary follows a litter of Labrador retrievers from birth through training as guide dogs, as well as the people along the way who teach them and kiss them on their irresistible little heads. Meet Patriot, Potomac, Poppet, Primrose and Phil.

Guide Dogs for the Blind breeds roughly 800 puppies each year, but only about 300 pass the rigorous standards to become workers. Others get "career changed," freed to have normal dog lives because some part of their demeanor isn't suited for the important job.

The training process starts right away, while puppies are still taking adorable naps. After two months, they go home with puppy raisers who live with them for up to a year and teach them expected obedience skills with tutelage and regular check-ins with the program. Then, the dogs have to buckle down for 10 weeks of intensive training with professionals. One of the most impressive segments features cars that hurtle toward blindfolded walkers to test the dogs' ability to keep the pedestrian safe. They end up better at this than your average human with a cell phone. Way better. The dogs are also really good at going to the airport, using an escalator and an elevator, and watching for steep drop-offs.

The narrative tension in the work is that, of course, of five puppies born at its start, not all make the cut. Cue tear-jerking moments when trainers have to say goodbye or get hard news from the clinical precision under which the program operates. Yet, the real climax happens when successful dogs are matched with sight-impaired people who need their help. Some of them have been waiting for more than a year for the chance. How often do you know the very moment you've met your new best friend?

9
+ Dogs with jobs!
– You want a puppy now (or maybe that's a +)

Pick of the Litter
Directed by Don Hardy Jr. and Dana Nachman
Center for Contemporary Arts, Violet Crown, The Screen, NR, 81 min.