CBC’s newest original series, Must Love Dogs, is everything the world needs right now. Two people with busy lives and professional obligations making the rescue and rehoming stray and abandoned dogs their number one life priority.
Having screened the first two episodes, I’m here to assure you that it’s every bit as heartwarming as it sounds.
The CBC site describes the ten-episode first season as “follow[ing] a Winnipeg power couple as they navigate high-stakes rescues, another Blue Bomber season, and their race to rehome as many dogs as possible before a brutal winter sets in.”
On the CBC Winter Media Day, The Televixen had the chance to chat via the magic of Zoom with the two-legged stars of Must Love Dogs, Winnipeg realtor and lifelong rescue advocate Alex Blumberg, and her boyfriend, Blue Bombers running back Brady Oliveira.
The most surprising fact that emerged in our conversation is that although the press had been sent screeners for the first two episodes, Brady and Alex had yet to see anything they’d filmed.
Brady was determined to rectify the situation ASAP. “Everybody’s surprised that we didn’t see our own show yet. And everyone else that we talked to today has seen our show, and I want to see it. So, we’re going to see it after this. I’m going to talk to one of the higher-ups and arrange it.”
How did Must Love Dogs come together as a show?
Brady: Alex and I have been doing rescue work for a long time, have rescued thousands of dogs together, and we like to share on our social media channels and our platforms — Instagram, TikTok, Facebook — the work that we do. That gained traction, and people noticed it.
We were actually in Mexico a couple years ago doing a rescue mission, and I was taking one of the dogs that we rescued to the bathroom from our hotel. So I was walking through the lobby, and there were these producers — I didn’t know they were producers — working on a show there called MILF Manor.
[pause for collective laugh at the memory]
I was walking through the lobby to take Mija… Actually, she’s on my arm right here [points out the tattoo of Miha on his left bicep]. We rescued [her] in Mexico, and she got adopted in Vancouver. She was in dire need, skinny, but it was probably about four weeks since we rescued her when we were in the hotel.
Anyways, these guys stopped and said, “Cute dog!” Started petting Mija… “But she doesn’t look totally healthy. What’s the story here?”
I’m like, “Oh, yeah, we just rescued her a month ago. You shoulda saw her then. She already looks night and day.”
“Oh, you do rescue work?”
“Yeah, my girlfriend and I are here, doing a pretty big rescue mission, helping the locals.”
We started to have a conversation. They asked what we do. “Alex is a realtor. I play in the Canadian Football League.” And they were actually Canadian. They said, “What you’re telling me sounds like a TV show!”
And I was like [mimics a blank stare]. I had no idea. [They’re like,] “Yeah, we’re producers. Can we get your contact?”
So that was about four years ago. They were grinding to push this to the right people, building up pitch decks and pilot trailers, got it into the right hands, and now, here we are. Filmed a whole TV show, which is pretty crazy.
Alex: All thanks to little Mija
Brady: All thanks to Mija, yeah. She was the topic of conversation when I walked through the hotel lobby. Honestly, if Mija wasn’t there, there’s no way we’d be doing this.
Alex: Yeah, we wouldn’t have stopped to talk to them.
What was it like doing your rescues with the film crew?
Alex: We were so in the moment that you don’t even really realize they are there. Our biggest thing, our non-negotiable, was “We’re not going to stage anything. Everything is going to be real. If you guys don’t get the moment of the rescue, then you don’t get it. Keep up and be ready!”
It’s so unpredictable. You don’t know what you’re getting into. We just go in. We do our thing. Whatever they were able to capture, they captured. And if they missed it, they missed it. We just went in, and we’re like, “We’re going to just do our rescues as we normally do them.”
It didn’t really make much of a difference for us. Obviously, it slowed things down a little bit, but for the most part, they knew they had to keep up in these situations, for sure.
The film crew followed Brady to the football field for practices and game day, and Alex into the stands when you watched the game. Brady, did your teammates joke about you having your own film crew?
Brady: Yeah, that definitely circled around the locker room in the beginning. “Oh, of course Brady’s got this TV show and cameras following him around…” Once they understood what the show was about… It’s very cool to see behind the scenes of a professional football player, but this show is so much more than that. It’s about the dogs.
This is to highlight and spotlight the dogs, the awesome community members that we meet, K9 Advocacy, and all the organizations that we work with in Season 1, and all their amazing volunteers.
Once they understood that, obviously, they were very supportive. I’m used to being in front of cameras, doing press conferences and different interviews. On game day, us being on national television every single week, so that was something I was used to and comfortable with.
On game day, for example, when they were following me around the field, I didn’t really notice them there. I felt like the cameras weren’t even there.
Alex: In the stands, I definitely noticed them.
Brady: Yeah, I’m sure.
Alex: Sitting right next to you with a giant camera. But even if it was a little uncomfortable, or you felt a bit awkward, it’s all for the greater good of bringing awareness to these dogs.
Anybody who would make little jokes about it, maybe they’re [initially] thinking, “Are they filming a reality show about, like, WAGs or girlfriends of athletes?” But once people knew what the show was about, they were like, “Oh, my gosh, that’s amazing. I can’t wait to watch that.”
For every little awkward or uncomfortable moment, the bigger purpose was always forefront of our minds. Everything we’re doing is to bring awareness to these dogs.
In making documentaries, they often film much more material than they end up using. Were there any days where, as they were filming, you thought, “This is totally NOT making it to screen”?
Brady: Oh. My. Gosh.
Alex: The getting in and out of the car!
Brady: So many times, I’m like, “Why are we even doing this shot? This better make it because we’re doing this over and over again. One of these shots better make it.”
Alex: And we haven’t really seen anything, so we don’t know. But certain clips for sure where they’re like, “Okay, open the door, close the door, open the door, close the door…” I’m like, “Is this really going to be in a 22-minute episode? Is this actually going to be in the show?” Or how many times we had to drive into a driveway, drive out, drive in.
Brady: Or all the drone shots. I’m [thinking], “I better see that shot in there.”
Alex: But, I get it. They just want to make sure they get the best shot, but sometimes, we’re making notes, “On this day, I’ll be looking for this drone shot. Let me tell ya, because we did it 45 times.”
Brady: I gotta say, I do appreciate the amount of energy and effort that they put in. Our film crew was so amazing. We got really close to them and got really lucky to have the people that were on our show. They were very skilled with a big resume of working on some pretty big shows before this.
For them to be putting in that work and wanting to get the right shots and make sure they got everything and them to overshoot, they wanted it to be the best possible product. What I’m hearing from people that have watched our show is that they’re very pleased with how it turned out. That’s a credit to our film crew. We were lucky to have them.
Having a TV show like Must Love Dogs about your work in animal rescue must add another level to your already busy lives. What does that mean to you?
Alex: I’ve been doing rescue work for 15-16 years now. To be able to have this platform and to have people that believe in what we’re doing and want to show the rest of Canada and hopefully the world [what we do.] To me, that was always the end goal: to get more dogs adopted and to shine the light on them and get more people involved.
Like Brady always says, we’re put on this earth to serve a purpose and to make it a better place than when we got here. I think it’s really cool [that our show] shows two regular people. We’re not veterinarians. We’re not vet techs. We have careers. We just really freakin’ love dogs.
If you love something, go out there and make a difference. Do it, and not for any other reason other than just to be a good person, fulfill your passion, and serve your purpose. We’re really blessed to be able to have this platform and now this show that’s going to shine such an amazing spotlight on all the people doing the work and, of course, the dogs.
Brady: Whatever comes with it, I do think it’s going to even bring a greater influence for Alex and I, for our platforms, and, whether it’s as a TV personality or whatever it is, with that comes a greater influence for us to even to more with that, to make an even bigger difference in all the charitable endeavours that we do especially for the dogs.
I think it’s going to allow us to raise even more awareness, to get more people involved, to get more donors. We’re going to be able to do much more because of this TV show, and for that, we’re very grateful.
You mentioned earlier that Mija was a Mexico rescue. Will Must Love Dogs focus only on the Winnipeg and Manitoba region?
Brady: For now, yeah.
Alex: Season 1 is just Manitoba for now. [raises an eyebrow, smiles enigmatically] We’ll see, we’ll see. We’d love to do it all over the world.
Brady: The big picture for us, our goal when this came to fruition about doing a Season 1, I was like, “You know what would be so cool is we do a Season 1 in a place that we’re so proud to call home in Winnipeg and be Manitobans.
Season 1 shows that, and then maybe a Season 2 and Season 3, every season is in a new location, in a new environment, in a different place, to show what that looks like. A different landscape. We’ll see.
Must Love Dogs premieres on CBC Gem on April 20 with the first four episodes. Two episodes will drop every following Monday until May 11.
