A wholesome dog rescue show isn’t the kind of project you’d expect to share DNA with one of reality TV’s most unhinged dating experiments.
And yet, that’s exactly where the story behind CBC’s new docuseries Must Love Dogs begins, says one of the leads.
The show follows CFL running back Brady Oliveira and realtor Alex Blumberg — a Canadian power couple who moonlight as dog rescuers — as they race across Manitoba to save as many stray dogs as possible before winter comes.
But it has an unlikely origin story, as described by Oliveira: a chance encounter with some producers for MILF Manor, the TLC reality dating series based on an eyebrow-raising twist involving mothers and their sons.
A few years ago, the couple was on a rescue mission in La Paz, Mexico, where they pulled a severely malnourished dog from the street. One morning, Oliveira brought the canine into a hotel lobby while it was still visibly recovering.
Oliveira says a group of TV producers, also staying at the hotel, stopped to ask questions. Oliveira recalls that he told them he plays for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, while his girlfriend works as a realtor — and that, in their spare time, they rescue dogs together.
“They said, ‘What you’re telling me right now sounds like a TV show,”‘ he says.
Winnipeg power couple find forever homes for rescue dogs | Must Love Dogs
“They were like, ‘We’re out here filming MILF Manor and this is something that is so much more wholesome and positive and doing good in the world,'” adds Blumberg.
“I think that really struck a chord with them, and they really pushed for this show to happen.”
One of those producers, John Hall, went on to help make Must Love Dogs through a different production company, Vancouver’s Omnifilm Entertainment.
The 10-episode series, premiering Monday on CBC Gem, is equal parts heartwarming and chaotic. It tracks the couple as they juggle high-stakes rescues with already maxed-out lives — Blumberg balancing real estate, Oliveira training for the Bombers’ season — all while caring for a growing pack of dogs at home.
“We’ve both obviously had past relationships, and not a lot of people can understand what it takes to go through some of these rescue missions and to also want to bring dogs in constantly,” says Blumberg during an interview at the CBC building in Toronto, while struggling to keep some hyperactive dogs still in their laps.
“So when we met and shared the same passion of dog rescue, it was kind of like … we were meant to be together.”
The pair connected through rescue work: Blumberg ran a Vancouver-based operation with her sister, while Oliveira volunteered with Winnipeg-based K9 Advocacy, which often sent dogs to Blumberg’s group for adoption.
When Blumberg later moved back to Winnipeg, they began rescuing together and quickly realized they clicked.
Each episode of Must Love Dogs tracks their missions in real-time, from crawling under sheds to pull out sick puppies, to taking in strays like Stella, who arrives with a surprise: she’s pregnant with 10 pups.
The series also spotlights a bigger-picture issue: a dog overpopulation crisis across parts of Manitoba and northern Canada.
“Our northern communities are overfilled with dogs,” says Blumberg.
“There’s not a lot of veterinary care in these communities, so it’s very difficult for them to be able to sterilize the dogs and give them the proper care that they might require.”
Even their camera crew was struck by the scale of the problem, she says.
“Going up there, they had no idea that there were this many dogs and cats living without homes through the harsh winters and the hot summers. It’s shocking, really.”
The couple hopes the series raises awareness of potential solutions, particularly sterilization and expanded veterinary access in remote communities.
They point to the need for more consistent spay-and-neuter clinics, along with clearer rules around pet ownership in some areas, where they say large numbers of unsterilized dogs can quickly accelerate the cycle.
“It comes down to the higher-ups. There needs to be strict bylaws that are actually followed,” says Oliveira.
Of all the rescues featured in Must Love Dogs, the couple says Stella especially impacted them.
“She gave birth on our living room couch while I was out of town. She chewed our walls and ate our coffee table,” says Blumberg.
“She was a lot, but she was also with us for so long. And we watched her puppies grow up with her.”
Blumberg muses that Stella could one day come full circle and star in the MILF Manor and Must Love Dogs crossover nobody asked for.
“I mean, she is a mama of 10. And she’s a wild one, that’s for sure.”
