Pick of the Litter (TV series)

Pick of the Litter is an American documentary streaming television series by Dana Nachman and Don Hardy for Disney+ based on 2018 film of the same name, also written and directed by the duo, that began streaming on December 20, 2019.
Premise.
The series follows six potential guide dogs named Paco, Pacino, Raffi, Amara, Tulane, and Tartan and how they are nurtured, trained, loved, and shepherded along the way forward potentially changing a blind human companion’s life and working as their guide dog.
Production.
In August 2019, Kidscreen reported that Disney+ commissioned a six part series "Pick of the Litter" inspired by 2018 film of the same name attaching the film's writer-directors Dana Nachman and Don Hardy along with Mary Celenza, Josh Braun and Dan Braun as executive producers with ABC Studios producing the series.
Shortly after the trailer for the film released, Disney put out an idea to adapt the film into a series and the negotiations began for making the series. When the idea about this series is pitched to Chris Beginner, CEO of Guide dogs for Blind he accepted as it would make more people aware about their organisation. Instead of doing again the same thing what they did with the feature, the directing duo decided focus on the period of the transition from getting the puppies from puppy raiser homes to twelve weeks of training they undergo for becoming a guide dog by focusing on specific litter.
As the production doesn't want to disturb the training process, they used smaller camera on a gimbal that then goes into a monopod that can be flipped upside down. Another challenge they had faced is if the puppy raisers will be willing to open their homes for the documentary.
Release.
The first episode premiered on Disney+ on December 20, 2019 with the following episodes debuting weekly on Fridays.
Marketing.
The first poster and trailer for the show were released on November 19, 2019.
Reception.
Common Sense Media rated the series 4 out of 5 stars, stating: "There's a lot of love flowing between humans in this series, and trainers and everyone else who comes in contact with the dogs treats them with heartwarming compassion, playing with them and petting them in between training sessions. The nature of training means that trainers will only have dogs for a limited period of time, and the moments when they have to return the dog to the program or give them to a client are painful; we see crying and hear about how difficult it is to say goodbye".