Toddler without feet gets puppy without a paw

Lt. Dan might have met a different fate in other circumstances.

But his owner, Karen Riddle, knew the white German shepherd puppy born with just one front paw was meant for something special.

And on Monday, the nine-week-old found a new home with Sapphyre Johnson, a toddler who lost both feet.

"A lot of kids don't see other children or animals that have issues like they have," said the 3-year-old's father, Matthew Johnson, beaming as he watched his little girl toss a squeaky toy to the pup.

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"This was a really nice thing," he said, "and a really good thing for Sapphyre."

Of the nine pups in the litter, Lt. Dan, named for the character in Forest Gump who lost his legs, was the only one missing a paw, Riddle said.

When other breeders suggested she put him down, she knew that was never a consideration. Many of her dogs have become therapy dogs or gone to people with special needs, she said.

Instead, the Greenville woman began looking around for special child or wounded veteran with whom the sweet bundle of fluff could find a home, and his special purpose.

"So I decided to call Shriners Hospital," said Riddle, whose father was a Shriner.

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Sapphyre has been a patient at the hospital since she was just three months old.

"When I was seven months pregnant, they did an ultra sound and told us she may be missing some fingers and toes," her mother, Ashley Johnson said of the birth defect that also left the child missing fingers.

"They don't know what caused it," she added. "But she had just two really long toes on each foot. And when she was 1, we had them amputated so she could be fitted for prosthetics."

And Shriners, which provides specialty orthopedic services to children up to age 18 regardless of ability to pay, has offered to make a prosthetic foot for Lt. Dan as well when he's big enough, officials said.

"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,' " said Shriners child life specialist Elaine Hardin. "He's a special dog and he's going to a special child."

The dog will help Sapphyre make friends and explain her disability to other children, Hardin said.

"In the future, I could see Sapphy at her first show-and-tell in school and she could bring in her dog and explain about her dog and herself," she said. "Everybody loves dogs and they'll want to know about her dog that's special like her."

Lt. Dan will be someone for Sapphyre to talk to, to help her exercise and motivate her to move, she said.

Although on Monday, she didn't need much motivation to run around the Shriners playground with her new pup, calling out, "Lt. Dan, Lt. Dan."

After so much excitement, the pup, who will one day grow to be up to 90 pounds, fell asleep in the car as the family made their way back home to Tennessee.

"I think it's wonderful that she (Riddle) would want to do that for somebody," Ashley Johnson said. "We'll have a nice quiet evening just getting to know each other."