This Friday, I watched Pick of the Litter with GRF Maggie.  This documentary was all about how the dogs in the Guide Dogs for the Blind program are selected and trained to become official guide dogs for individuals who require visual assistance.  The process is a lot more rigorous than I was expecting, but it makes sense; after all, these people will be putting their full trust and even their lives in these dogs’ hands (or paws, to be more literal).  Cuts — or as the program likes to call them, career changes — occur at almost every step to ensure that only those dogs that have the mental fortitude for this job are kept.  For example, Potomac, a dog that seemed to have a calm demeanor, had a lunging problem; that is, he would go for anything on the sidewalk that distracted him.  This resulted in him getting cut from the program quite early, as that kind of behavior is a red flag since individuals who need visual assistance could not handle that kind of jerky action.  All in all, the film was awesome (even though it was sad at many parts) and gave a glimpse into a very impressive service program.