Olympic athletes face intense pressure leading up to and during the games, and it's important to have outlet for that stress.
Olympic gold medalist Meryl Davis would research puppies while competing during the 2014 Winter Olympics, knowing she wanted to get a dog after she was done competing. Since then, she has adopted Bilbo Baggins, a mini sheepadoodle.
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Other local ice dancers also have dogs and enjoy coming home to them as they prepared for the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Maia and Alex Shibutani have 7-year-old Maltese dogs named Lily and Po.
"We still call them puppies, but they're not," said Maia Shibutani.
"They are very, very sweet and we're so happy we're able to spend time with them after spending long days at the rink," said Alex Shibutani.
The Shibutanis train at the Arctic Edge of Canton.
Madison Chock and Evan Bates have dogs named Henry and Stella.
"They're just so loving and happy," Madison Chock said.
"They don't care if you get first or if you get 10th. I think they're just happy, they're just happy to see you," Evan Bates said.
Chock and Bates train at the Novi Ice Center.
Both ice dance teams are competing in the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea and are among the top three ice dance teams representing Team USA at the Winter Games.
The U.S. figure skating team brought puppies in during the national championships in San Jose in January. Skaters could snuggle with the dogs in the athletes lounge before and after competing.
Lily and Po are often part of Maia and Alex's social media posts. In fact, the two dogs are sponsored.
"They and us are working with Milk-Bone," Alex Shibutani said. "They believe dogs are able to inspire the best of us and in this year and every year when we're trying to go out and be the best that we can be, it's really nice that we can come home and have that support they can give us."