Adam Rippon and his fiancee Jussi-Pekka Kajaala have adopted a dog into the family, the former Olympic figure skater announced via an Instagram post, thus becoming dog dads for the first time.
“Say hi to our little mutt Tony,” the caption read.
Tony is a rescue dog of unknown heritage, though the humans have given him a DNA test to find out his breed background, the results are not back yet, so for now he is just a cute tan and black doggo.
This news was previously reported by People Magazine.
Adam Rippon and fiance adopt new dog to family.
“This is my first time in the world of canines,” Rippon stated in an Instagram story, “and let me tell you, it’s different than I thought, but I’m ready.”
Given the demanding schedule of being a top-level athlete who competes on an international level, it’s not really a surprise that Tony would be Adam Rippon’s first dog, as he grew up the oldest of six siblings in Pennsylvania, and then on top of that, figure skating seems to be extremely demanding in and of itself, though now that he’s retired from competition, it makes for a good time to expand one’s horizons and become a pet parent.
In his first week at his new home, Tony has already mastered how to sit, how to stay, and how to lay down on command, so so far things seem to be going well.
Rippon won two world championships in in men’s singles skating in 2009, and earned a bronze medal in the team event at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, in addition to being the winner of season 26 of Dancing with the Stars.
Though Rippon will not be competing in the 2022 Winter Olympics in February in Beijing, China, fellow dog lover (and LGBT activist) Gus Kenworthy will be competing in freestyle skiing, competing for Great Britain in his final Olympics due to having dual citizenship.