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(FH Productions\/CBC)![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776703930_914_default.jpg\")
(FH Productions\/CBC)<\/p>\nBetween early morning rescue calls, muddy crawl spaces and Canadian Football League game days, life is anything but typical for Winnipeg Blue Bombers running back Brady Oliveira and his partner, rescue influencer Alex Blumberg. The couple, who have helped save thousands of dogs, are now bringing that reality to screen in CBC\u2019s new series Must Love Dogs, premiering April 20 on CBC Gem.<\/p>\n
From crawling under sheds to reach scared puppies to taking in pregnant strays, the series follows their real-life rescue work as they save dogs in need and find them forever homes.<\/p>\n
Must Love Dogs also offers a look at how that work fits into their everyday lives, with high-stakes rescues unfolding alongside a packed CFL season and a home that can quickly turn into a revolving door of fosters.<\/p>\n
We spoke with Oliveira and Blumberg about the new series, balancing football and rescue efforts, and life at home \u2014 from CFL watch nights to the less glamorous side of WAG life.<\/p>\n
(As told to CBC Life. These answers have been edited and condensed.)<\/p>\n
Alex, you\u2019ve been rescuing dogs for over a dozen years now. Approximately, how many dogs would you say you\u2019ve likely saved during your time?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Alex: Oh my gosh, I honestly don\u2019t even know. Thousands and thousands of dogs. Some rescues we go on, it\u2019s 70-something animals, and sometimes it\u2019s one animal. And over 15 years, it\u2019s definitely been a ton of dogs. I always wish I would have kept track. I always say that in the moment. It\u2019s been a lot, though.<\/p>\n
Brady, as a CFL all-star and two-time Grey Cup winner, some fans might be surprised by how many rescue dogs come through your home. How does that constant change affect the rhythm of the CFL season at home? And how do you manage both playing and rescuing?<\/p>\n
Brady: Yeah, it\u2019s a great question. Obviously, it\u2019s a very busy schedule, especially in the midst of a busy season. I just find time. Our house is pretty busy, just with our pack alone of four dogs, and then you add in maybe a foster here and there, or a foster that\u2019s giving birth to 10 puppies, like you\u2019ll see on Must Love Dogs, Stella and her 10 puppies. So it gets busy, but we just truly love dogs. Any free time that I get, I want to spend it with Alex and with our dogs, or any dogs. So for us, if we can bring dogs into our home, knowing that they need it, I always find the time to make that work, doesn\u2019t matter how busy we are.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s the most rewarding part of your job as dog rescuers?<\/p>\n
Alex: I mean, the most rewarding part is definitely getting them into their adoptive home. So when they get to their forever home, that\u2019s the end goal. We want every dog to live the life that our four dogs get to live every single day, and just be loved and taken care of.<\/p>\n
Brady: Just to add onto that, it\u2019s rescuing your dog that is in dire need of help. Visibly, you can see the dog is not doing well, and you kind of see that whole transformation from rescue to vetting to rehabilitation to eventually getting the dog adopted, and you see that full moment of the dog is a different dog now. It\u2019s finally healthy, it\u2019s loved, and they all hit the jackpot with the most amazing families. I think that\u2019s why we do it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What\u2019s the hardest thing about dog rescues?<\/p>\n
Brady: The hardest thing about dog rescue is the things you see \u2014 seeing a dog in a condition where you wish you didn\u2019t have to see or, you know, a dog not making it in the moment of rescue. We\u2019ve seen a lot.<\/p>\n
Alex: You see things you wish you would never have to see. But we do it because of the end goal of giving all these dogs a second chance. And, also, the ones that you can\u2019t save, right? There\u2019s so many dogs, and we can\u2019t save them all, and we really try to celebrate the small wins of the ones we can, but the ones you can\u2019t, those haunt me still. So that\u2019s probably the toughest part for me. We need more people to get involved.<\/p>\n
Has there been a rescue moment that has happened during a game week or game day? And how do you respond in those situations?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Brady: Oh yeah, I get messages constantly through my social media. We use our platforms to raise awareness, so people reach us that way a lot. So there\u2019s been lots of moments where I\u2019m at practice, and I see the message that there\u2019s a dog in need, and I can\u2019t just drop everything and go. If it can wait a couple hours, as soon as I finish practice, I\u2019ll head out, and we\u2019ll go get the dog. If it\u2019s an emergency, I pass it on to Alex, or Canine Advocacy, a rescue we volunteer with, and they have an amazing team of volunteers, so someone usually picks that up right away.<\/p>\n
Alex: We have a very great support system. We\u2019re just a small part of the rescues, so we have people that are always willing to help when they can. We\u2019re very fortunate to have that surround us as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Brady: Definitely, football always comes first, but sometimes it\u2019s like, \u201cDamn, I wish I wasn\u2019t at practice right now, because this dog needs us.\u201d But we make sure someone else goes. It\u2019s all taken care of, but it\u2019s very fulfilling when we do get to do the frontline rescue work.<\/p>\n
(FH Productions\/CBC) (FH Productions\/CBC)<\/p>\n
Alex, people might think of the term \u201cWAG\u201d and think glamour, but your version includes muddy shoes and early-morning rescues. Talk to us a bit about that, and what rescue moment from the show actually captures what it really looks like.<\/p>\n
Alex: I think WAG is one of those things that people assume when they see me, but I would say 99.9 per cent of the time I\u2019m covered in pee and poo. That\u2019s gonna sound so bad. I\u2019m covered in dog \u2014 I\u2019m a mess. I\u2019m a hot mess. When we\u2019re out on a rescue mission, we\u2019re climbing under things, we\u2019re getting peed on, we\u2019re getting anal glands on us, all sorts of things. So it gets messy, and I\u2019m there for it. That\u2019s me in my element. But I also love getting dressed up and wearing my cute Bomber stuff, and going to the game. So different sides to me, but 99 per cent of the time it\u2019s the messy, dog-crazy girl.<\/p>\n
When it comes to CFL watch nights at home, what does that look like in a house full of dogs?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Brady: They\u2019re watching Dad on TV?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Alex: Gunner especially likes to watch him on TV. But yeah, we have watch parties. Our families come over, and my brother brings his two dogs, and [Brady\u2019s] sister brings her dog. So at any given time, there\u2019s four to 10 dogs watching Brady play football at his away game, so it\u2019s usually pretty chaotic.<\/p>\n
What advice do you have for first-time dog adopters or those thinking of taking a rescue in?<\/p>\n
Brady: I\u2019d definitely have a lot of pee pads around or paper towels or towels, because they do bring a mess with them, especially if you\u2019re adopting a rescue pup \u2014 that\u2019s a real thing. I would definitely say having a safe space for the dog, whether that\u2019s a crate or an x-pen. Just an area for the dog to have its alone time and decompress a little bit. Having dog beds. A comfy space. The biggest thing is just have a lot of love, like open your arms to that dog.<\/p>\n
Alex: And love the heck out of them and be patient, right? Some of these dogs have been through unthinkable things, but most of them are very resilient and forgiving, and if you just give them the time that they need to decompress, especially if you\u2019re adopting an older dog, they\u2019re gonna make your life so much better. So you just be patient and have a lot of love to give, and the rest you just figure out as you go.<\/p>\n
Anything else you\u2019d like to share about the show?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Alex: I think every episode I make out with some sort of animal, whether it be a dog or a goat.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Brady: The goats were making out with each other.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Alex: It was a whole makeout session.\u00a0<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Between early morning rescue calls, muddy crawl spaces and Canadian Football League game days, life is anything but…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":616900,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194296],"tags":[49,48,22073],"class_list":["post-616899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-winnipeg","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-winnipeg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616899","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=616899"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616899\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/616900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=616899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=616899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=616899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}