Parents Tell Water-Obsessed Golden Retriever About the Olympics and His Face Says it All

If you're anything like me (or, you know, basically everyone else in the United States), you've probably been all about watching the 2024 Paris Olympics this week. After all, the games only come around every four years, and this year has brought a lot of fun moments to witness: Simone Biles and Team USA winning gold at the gymnastics finals, every single Snoop Dogg moment, and last but certainly not least, Pommel Horse Guy. Who would want to miss out on all of that fun?

Unfortunately, our dogs can't really understand what's going on, even if they've been watching the broadcasts right there next to us on the couch. And when it comes to the pup in the TikTok video below, who is something of an athlete, some of them might wish they could compete.

The beautiful Golden Retriever in this video that @bennythegolden shared is named Benny, and his favorite thing to do is to swim. Of course, there's been plenty of that going on at the Olympics, and once Benny's humans filled him in on that little fact, he looked like he was experiencing a heavy dose of FOMO.

Benny was lounging on the bed with his mom and dad when they let him know that there are actually people swimming in Paris right now without him. The horror!!

"Do you want to go swim in France?" his mom asked. "Do you want to go swim in the Olympics?"

Benny immediately perked up, because as a matter of fact, he is interested! He stayed calm the whole time, but this is definitely a dog who is ready to compete. And they'd have to give him the gold, just for being so cute. That's how it works, right?

Dogs at the Olympics

Don't tell Benny, but there are some dogs at the Olympics... they're just not competing!

Meet Beacon, one of the therapy dogs who works with the athletes. He also happens to be a Golden Retriever (and he's adorable, just like Benny) and he's making a big difference in the mental health of those competing during what is obviously one of the most stressful, high stakes experiences of their lives.

Beacon isn't the only therapy dog who has worked with the Olympians, but he is the most famous. He went viral earlier this summer after working with the women's gymnastics team and even posed for a photo with Simone Biles.

"He likes dogs a lot, but he loves people, Tracey Callahan Molnar, Beacon's mom, told USA Today. "I think he's very good at sensing stress in people. He does that with me, and I've seen him do it with other people. He really was kind of cut out for this I would say."

Beacon is a good pup — and doesn't even realize he's having experiences many people (and Benny) could only dream of. What a good boy!