Everyone needs a best friend.

A best friend shares everything with you, and loves you as you are.

So when 7-year-old Paxton Williams’ parents were told about a special puppy, they knew right away they had to let Paxton and the dog meet.

That’s because Marvel the puppy was born without a front paw. And Paxton, at the young age of 4, had his right leg amputated due to damage done from a bone infection when he was born.

“They just immediately fell in love. … They were just kindred spirits,” said his father, Blaine Williams. The family had been unsure if they could take on a new pet, but after seeing Paxton and Marvel together, they knew the puppy was theirs.

Patrick sits with his new dog, Marvel. Photo courtesy of the Williams

Paxton was born at 24 weeks and five days, weighing 1 pound 10 ounces, “about the size of your palm,” Williams said. The newborn spent time in the neonatal intensive care unit. He had a bone infection in his right leg, and had more than 10 surgeries to try and clear the infection.

“That infection stunted the growth of the leg so it affected his hip joint, his knee socket. The lower part of the leg — his foot and ankle and heel — all that was fine,” Williams said.

He was just a little bit slower to crawl and things, and he just had his own style of getting around.”

As time went on, the shoe lifts that were used to help Paxton walk quit working properly. The family had to make the hard choice to have his right leg amputated, knowing that a prosthetic would be the only way for him to get a chance to walk and move around like other children.

When he is older, his father said, he will get a prosthetic that has a microprocessor knee to make walking more natural.

“He was just most excited about getting a wheelchair so he could cruise around,” Williams said. “That frame of mind explains a bit of his personality.”

Paxton and Marvel watch TV, Photo courtesy of the Williams family

Marvel was born without her right front paw, said breeder Barb Felt of Rolling Oaks Goldens.

“It was closed. It wasn’t bleeding. There just wasn’t a paw,” she said. “I immediately sent a photo to my trusted veterinarian and said, ‘What do you think happened?’”

Felt said the vet speculated that the umbilical cord had wrapped around Marvel’s paw, stopping it from growing. But the happy pup never seemed to notice she was down one leg.

“She has really great coordination and so she may never need any kind of prosthetic,” Felt said. 

Felt wanted to find a wonderful home for Marvel, she said.

Marvel is a special little dog and she’s got to go to a special little person.”

After she saw Marvel and Paxton together, Felt agreed with the Williamses – the pair was a perfect match.

“It was about as sweet as it can get,” she said. “Paxton just got down on the floor and Marvel just gave him a little puppy attack, licking his face, and Paxton just kept giggling. We all just kind of looked at each other, all teary-eyed, like, ‘This is it. It’s a match.’ It almost makes me choke up because it’s just really sweet.”

The family said Marvel has helped Paxton grow more comfortable with his disability.

“A puppy is super approachable,” Williams said. “People will say, ‘What’s wrong with her leg?’ and then Paxton will step in and he’s like, ‘Oh, she’s like me. She’s got three paws and I’m missing a leg, too.’ And it’s just awesome to hear that he’s got a louder voice now and he’s able to make friends a little easier.”

Watch below to see this dynamic duo in action.

Source: Today