The talk focuses primarily on firework fears, but the advice applies similarly to fear of thunder or of other types of noises.

About the presenter

PD Dr. Stefanie Riemer is a behavioural biologist at the Clever Dog Lab, Vetmeduni Vienna, and dog behaviour consultant at HundeUni - Wissenschaft trifft Praxis. During her PhD at the University of Vienna, she investigated personality development in pet dogs. Subsequently, she was involved in several research projects at the University of Lincoln (UK), where she explored impulsivity and reward responsiveness in dogs.

From 2016 to 2022 she headed the Companion Animal Behaviour Group at the Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern (Switzerland), where her research focused on emotional expression in dogs, puppy socialisation, noise fears, the mitigation of fear at the vets, and the phenomenon of ‘ball junkies’ and possible parallels with behavioural addictions in humans.

Besides publishing over 30 articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals, it has always been important to Stefanie to create a link between science and practice. She does this in seminars for dog trainers and behaviourists, dog owners and veterinarians. Her seminar topics include personality in dogs, the interplay of genes and environment, optimal puppy raising practices, emotions in dogs, or more specifically, understanding fear from a neurobiological perspective and interventions to help fearful dogs.