Pick of the Litter
I watched a documentary called Pick of the Litter, about puppies in training to become guide dogs for the blind, and I’d like the record to reflect that there should definitely be more movies about puppies. Pick of the Litter isn’t all roly-polies and snuggles and yips: The star dogs of the film work their tails off as they are trained to become service animals, and their journey is emotional, tense, inspiring. (And yes, cute as hell.) The film starts with a fresh litter of squeaky baby labrador woofers, called the “P litter” because they all get P names: Poppet, Patriot, Potomac, Primrose, and the everyman, Phil. (“Phil would let you borrow his truck,” explains a highly-trained dog handler, who has just convinced you that Phil probably could actually own and operate a truck.) They are squirmy, bitey little monsters that I would die for, and they all have the potential to change the life of a vision-impaired person who’s been on a waitlist for years.
by Elinor Jones