This adorable three-year-old petite girl was surrendered to FBRN with her sister, Phoenix, when caring for two dogs became too much for her previous owner. Steffi and Phoenix have been together in foster care and are close, but they do not need to be adopted together. If you want double the love, then both can be adopted together.

Steffi has not had an easy stay in foster care. When she arrived, her airways were severely compromised and limited her activity. She had surgery to address her airways in September and we are happy to report that she has a new lease on life now that she can breathe more comfortably. Unfortunately, while recovering from airways surgery, she herniated a disc in her back and needed emergency surgery. She is expected to make a full recovery, but her forever family should be prepared to be careful with her back. She should be carried up and down steps, should wear a harness and should not be allowed to jump. Steffi is potty trained and is used to going out every 3-4 hours during the day.

Steffi would benefit from a forever family who will have the patience to teach her about living as a pup in a loving environment now that she is healthy. She loves her people, and will gladly snuggle on the couch to watch TV or survey activities going on around her. Beware, she will not let you stop petting her and has an adorable habit of taking her paw and moving your hand if you stop for even one second!

Steffi’s ideal home is one where she has access to her people – a house or an apartment are both perfectly fine. A fenced yard would be a great way for Steffi to be able to develop some stamina now that she can breathe more easily. Dog savvy older children may be okay, but Steffi has a lot of learning to do about how to be a well-behaved family member. Because she had two surgeries in a short period of time and needed to be on crate rest, she has not had the opportunity to work on some of her behavioral quirks. She could potentially do very well in an office setting as she does love people, but as the only dog since she can be quite protective of treats.

Steffi gets very stressed by car rides, but as her foster mom says, she’s never been anywhere except the vet. She is a resource guarder and would do best as an only dog, unless she is adopted with her sister Phoenix. She currently follows Phoenix’s lead, so she would benefit from someone that can help her build her confidence. Steffi shows no interest in toys, except cow hooves.

Steffi’s foster mom wants you to know that, “Steffi is a very sweet girl that is content to snuggle away with her people. She can become possessive of her people and needs her family to know this and help to redirect her. She will happily go to her crate at bedtime and snooze away all night. She has been allowed to sleep with us at times and hasn’t been a bed hog. She would love it if her family can help her experience new things and hopefully learn to like car rides. Before her airway surgery this little lady wasn’t able to enjoy things like she will be able to now. Her airway was so restricted it wasn’t possible to even take her for a pupcup. I can’t wait for her to take a walk and sniff everything along the way. She currently gets very stressed by car rides, and I can’t blame her since everyone we went on was to a vet visit. She has been a trooper through her latest surgery and is recovering well.”

If you believe that you have the perfect home for Steffi and possibly even her sister, Phoenix, then look no further. All you need to do is click on the link below to apply. If you are interested in adopting both together, please fill out an application for each one. After that, be ready to pick one or two of them up should you be selected as their forever home. There is a distance consideration to the twin metro cities or a short distance as Steffi can get anxious on car drives.

FBRN does not ship dogs as cargo, so adopters are expected to pick up their dogs from their foster family.

FBRN dogs are in foster care in people’s private homes. For the foster families’ safety, we do not disclose specific locations, and we don’t set up meet and greets prior to applications. For detailed information about the dogs in our care, please read the extensive bios on each dog.