Puppy Missing A Paw Befriends A Girl Who's As Special As He Is

<p> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/karen.g.riddle/media_set?set=a.2733096168388.2119230.1286812189&type=3">Facebook/Karen Riddle</a> </p>
<p> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/karen.g.riddle/media_set?set=a.2733096168388.2119230.1286812189&type=3">Facebook/Karen Riddle</a> </p>

It's not what 3-year-old Sapphyre Johnson and her fluffy best friend are missing that makes them so special - it's what they have together.

Sapphyre, who was born with feet that hadn't fully developed, will always be a little different than most people, but not from her dog. Just like her, 9-week-old Lt. Dan is unique, missing a paw on his front leg.

Facebook/Karen Riddle

Karen Riddle, whose dog gave birth to the puppy, told Greenville Online that she knew what some saw as a defect was actually a blessing in disguise for the right person. She reached out to Shriners Hospital in South Carolina to see if a patient there might be interested in taking Lt. Dan home as a new family member.

For Sapphyre, who was there being fitted with prosthetics, it was love at first sight.

"The first time I showed her a picture of the dog, she looked at it for a moment, and she said, 'That's my puppy. He's just like me,'" Elaine Hardin, child care specialist at the hospital, told the news outlet. "He's a special dog and he's going to a special child."

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