The Star Of ‘Must Love Dogs’ On The Rewards Of Adopting A Rescue
Must Love Dogs stars—and real-life husband-and-wife dog rescuers—Alex Blumberg and Brady Oliviera. (Photo: Courtesy CBC)
Alex Blumberg, who stars in the new CBC reality-TV series Must Love Dogs alongside her husband, CFL All-Star and two-time Grey Cup winner Brady Oliveira, grew up in a rescue-friendly household. “My mom was a huge advocate for rescue and volunteered for the Humane Society,” she says over the phone from her home in Winnipeg.
After running her own rescue organization with her sister for nearly a decade—as well as rescuing dogs in Thailand and Bali—she joined K9 Advocacy in Manitoba. It’s under the umbrella of that non-profit that she and Oliveira try and tackle the region’s overpopulation crisis.
“In Northern Manitoba, there are hundreds of free roaming dogs,” she says, adding that one day out can net as many as 60 dogs in need of care, homes and veterinary services.
Blumberg says she’s likely rescued “thousands of dogs” in Canada and abroad over the years, but saving one dog, in particular, about eight years ago reminded her why the work matters.
“My dog, Lady, came from an awful situation. That rescue hooked me on frontline work,” she says.
Lady, who is now 14, was abused with lit cigarettes, used in dog fighting, gave birth to several litters and was kept outdoors on an inhumanely short chain.
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She’d also been abandoned to die.
“The property where she was kept had had a fire and they evacuated, but Lady was left on a chain with with her puppies, most of whom didn’t survive,” says Blumberg.
She couldn’t resist taking Lady home that day. “I knew it would be hard to find her a home,” she says. And indeed, it wasn’t easy winning over the then five-year-old Mastiff-mix.
“She was very, very hard work. She was aggressive towards other dogs and fearful of people. She definitely put me through it,” laughs Blumberg.
It took a few years of patience and care, but Lady slowly began to trust Blumberg, who now refers to the senior dog as her “soul dog.”
“Even after everything she went through, she did forgive and trust people again," she says. "She's my constant reminder of how resilient and forgiving these animals are."
But Blumberg stresses that Lady's story of abuse isn’t the norm when it comes to rescue dogs.
“Lady was a very extreme case, but I think people need to understand that these aren't rescue dogs as a category.”
In Manitoba, the excess dog population mostly reflects resource issues, she says. There are just a lot of stray dogs and few nearby vet services to help curb overpopulation.
As a result, most of the dogs she finds are just struggling strays.
In fact, Blumberg doesn’t even really like the term “rescue dog”.
“They’re just dogs who need a second chance or dogs who ended up in the wrong situation,” she explains.
Over the years, she’s developed an ability to see the difference between a stray that’s fearful and one that has aggression issues. She says she sees the former kind of dog more than anything in her rescue work.
The dogs that are scared, she says, will tuck their tails, hide or bark or back away, even growl. “They're just letting you know they’re not ready for you to come closer to them,” she explains. “You want to give them the space to feel comfortable,” she says. “It’s mostly staying with them, talking to them, being patient, giving them food and just moving very slowly."
“At the end of the day, dogs are still wild animals,” she adds. “You can get a golden retriever from a breeder who has behavioural issues, too.”
An older dog or a dog who has never lived in a home may need time to decompress, she says.
“Within three months, the dog is a completely different dog who feels safe for the first time, who feels love for the first time, and they will love you back tenfold. It’s an experience you can't explain unless you've been through it, and I absolutely think that anybody can go through that experience if they have that patience and understanding of what it takes, because it's 100 percent worth it.”
Blumberg says people who are interested in adopting a rescue but are a little shy about taking the leap could start by fostering.
“Foster-to-adopt is a great way to start,” says Blumberg. “Foster a few dogs until you find the right one that fits into your lifestyle. We always do trials. We want to give people time to make sure that it is a good fit.”
And when that fit appears, you’ll know.
Says Blumberg: “It will just click and you will think to yourself, there's no way I'm letting this dog go anywhere else.”
The first episode of Must Love Dogs is streaming on CBC Gem now.
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Flannery Dean is a writer based in Hamilton, Ont. She’s written for The Narwhal, the Globe and Mail and The Guardian.
