'Pick of the Litter' Episode 5: The dogs near graduation as the trainers prepare to pair them with their owners
Over the previous four weeks of the Disney+ show 'Pick of the Litter', we've seen exactly how much love and effort goes into making an adorable, playful puppy transform into a suitable guide dog candidate. All the dog raisers, trainers, scientists and master instructors working in tandem with the Guide School for the Blind have devoted a lot of time, care and consideration into making sure that the eventual visually-impaired owners of these dogs will never regret tossing their cane away.
While the process might be taxing and sometimes heartwrenching for all the people invested in this project, the satisfaction and emotional payoff involved is well worth it at the end of the day. The joy and excitement on their faces is a sight to behold when they see the dog that they worked so hard on progress through the ranks of the intensive training program. And the program isn't getting any easier! There are still many obstacles to overcome and myriad scenarios where the dogs could slip up, and possibly let years of hard work slip through their paws by being "career-changed."
And that's why these trainers and instructors have to remain so flexible, vigilant and patient. They have to make sure their assigned dogs can remain sharply focused, calmly independent and at times, "intelligently disobedient" - in order to make it through the final stages of their guide dog school training. Here are our biggest takeaways from 'Pick of the Litter' Episode 5, 'Meet Your Match'.
It's up to the dogs now
The student dogs are now well into the home stretch and have to make it through the final stages of the eight-phase training program. And this is where all those weeks of dedicated preparation and training come into play. Besides making it through the tests for guide work, traffic, buildings, obedience, and sidewalk-less assessment, these dogs are now also expected to take the lead - both literally and figuratively. They cannot expect to be spoonfed anymore and have to proactively lead their assigned human safely and calmly wherever they go while remaining ever vigilant for potential dangers and purposefully focused on the task at hand. While they are still granted a little leeway and special attention to make sure their confidence and personality isn't being curbed, the onus is now on the dogs to rise to the challenge, take the initiative and control the tiller of their destiny till graduation.
Love is patient and blind
The potential visually-impaired owners of these dogs have been waiting for a long time in order to get an approved match. Some of them have been anxiously waiting for eight years now and have had to endure a lot of sacrifices and hardships in their lives in order to see this magical pairing come to fruition. And it's not just the prospective owners - the trainers and instructors themselves have to undergo a testing emotional roller coaster of emotions as they watch the dogs try to make it past every hindrance in their path while being so eager to please at every step of the way. And to see the eventual owners actually being lined up with their eventual guide dog is truly moving and awww-inducing, and makes you appreciate just how much love and care has gone into making this special moment come to pass for everybody involved with the school. A further two weeks of bonding and training with the owners will be required before the guide school can sign off on the dogs, however.
We're just as invested now
These are dogs are such adorable, noble, and magnificent creatures that it would be a real shame to see them not make it all the way through to graduation. After watching them grow up as puppies, and witnessing their journey from cute, playful critters to stoic, attentive guide dogs, it's plainly visible that we're in this for the long haul - we want to see these dogs succeed just as badly as all the humans involved on the show do! With every smile and gleeful laugh, every moment of pain and restless anxiety, we are right there with the dog raisers, trainers, and owners in rooting for these beloved dogs to pass their tests with flying colors. But the triumphant, excited smiles on their faces on learning the dogs will be graduating tell their own happy tale.
