It's not easy being an 8-year-old boy, especially when you have a rare skin condition that makes you hate your own face. Carter Blanchard from Arkansas suffers from vitiligo which destroys the pigment in the skin cells and causes them to change color.

The little boy was having a hard time at school but then his mom found something to give him hope. The same year Carter was diagnosed with vitiligo, a 13-year-old Labrador retriever named Rowdy received the same diagnosis.

Stephanie Adcock, Carter's mom, discovered the pictures on Facebook and immediately showed them to her young son.

"When I showed Carter, he was so excited to see a dog that was famous for his vitiligo," Adcock told KATU.com.

Adcock contacted Rowdy's owner and they built up a long-distance friendship. After speaking for a while, the KATU viewers decided it was time for Carter to meet his hero, and donated money so that he could go meet Rowdy in person.

"It couldn't be any other person that made him feel better. It had to be Rowdy, It had to be a dog," Adcock told KATU.com.

When they arrived at Rowdy's home, it felt like they were meeting an old friend. "When we walking in, I didn't feel like we were walking in for the very first time. They were family already. You could tell Rowdy knew something was going on and felt the energy in the room."

Carter was thrilled to finally meet his role model, and spent a solid two hours petting him.

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