GREENVILLE, S.C. – (WRIC) – Three-year-old Sapphyre Johnson was born a healthy child in Greeneville, Tennessee, except for some missing features: her feet, fingers and toes.

Since she was three-months-old, Sapphyre has been a patient at Shriner’s Hospital for Children, where her mom, Ashley Johnson, said she’s undergone multiple surgeries to be fitted for prosthetic feet. However, for her last visit, Johnson told ABC News that Sapphyre got to leave the hospital with much more than just her new prosthetics.

“It was two weeks ago when were told that an owner had contacted the hospital about a puppy who was missing one front paw,” said Johnson. “She wanted him to grow up with a child who had similar circumstances.”

After Sapphyre saw the photo of the pup, Johnson said her daughter fell in love.

“Sapphyre immediately noticed that he was missing a paw,” she said. “She said, ‘He has a foot like mine.’”

Karen Riddle, the dog’s breeder, said the 9-week-old White German Shepard was one of a little of nine puppies. He was the only one missing a paw.

For that very reason, Riddle said she decided to name him Lt. Dan, after the beloved character who lost both his legs from the popular film “Forrest Gump.”

“The movie is a heartwarming, loving story, so I said, ‘You’re just like Lt. Dan. It just suited his personality.”

Because of Lt. Dan’s calm demeanor, Riddle coordinated with the Shriner’s Hospital to hand off the pup to Sapphyre. Lt. Dan will be her new therapy dog. The pair went home together Monday.

“It was awesome yesterday,” Riddle said. “We said, ‘Sapphyre show him your feet’ and, oh boy, she threw off her prosthetics and her socks and said, ‘Look!’ Then Lt. Dan put his paw up at the exact same time.”

Although they’ve only been pals for 24 hours, Johnson said Sapphyre and Lt. Dan make the perfect pair.

“He follows her every step she takes, everywhere she goes,” said Johnson. “It’s like they’ve known each other forever.

“We always want Sapphyre to know that being different is not bad,” she added. “People, even pets, no one is exactly the same. That would be boring. I think it’s good for her to see that.”