This 4-year-old golden retriever named Beacon has taken the internet by storm for his work with the USA Gymnastics team.
He provides pet-assisted therapy to members of the team ,and even has his own Instagram account.
In his bio, he’s proclaimed he is the "goodest boy" and loves to "make friends everywhere."
Beacon gained national recognition after Team USA gymnast Sunisa Lee posted photos with Beacon on Instagram in June during trials, captioning the post “thank god for beacon”.
Multiple media outlets have reported that Beacon is the first therapy dog for USA Gymnastics.
Beacon does more work outside the Olympics as well. He also is a pet-assisted therapy dog for Huntington Hospital in California.
Beacon’s owner, Tracey Callahan Molnar, has been involved with USA Rhythmic Gymnastics for four decades, according to Huntington Health.
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Molnar and Caroline Hunt, the vice president of rhythmic gymnastics for USA Gymnastics, came up with the idea to try integrating pet-assisted therapy to help de-stress athletes.
“Being able to blend things that I love and that are personally important to me has been something I never thought I’d have the chance to do. I love my dog. I love gymnastics. I love providing animal-assisted therapy, and I am a big believer in volunteerism,” Molnar shared in a press release shared with Scripps News.
She began volunteering with Huntington in 2014, first with her dog Tulsa and now with Beacon.
According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, simply petting a dog can lower cortisol, the stress hormone, and increase oxytocin, the feel-good hormone.
@scrippsnews 🐶 Meet Beacon! He is the 4-year-old Golden Retriever you may have seen with some members of the USA Gymnastics team. Pet-assisted therapy is being used to help de-stress athletes. Studies show petting a dog can lower your stress levels. #dogs #ParisOlympics #news ♬ original sound - Scripps News
