Afraid of dogs?

Never, ever, did I ever think I would be. I could be, now.

From headlines in May 2022, not counting the one from December 2021:

The story of Kyleen Waltman is particularly grievous.
Dog pack kills public health worker investigating earlier attack, Alabama cops say
Texas dog walker permanently disfigured in ‘bloodthirsty’ attack by 2 dogs, lawsuit says (nbcnews.com)
Dog attack victim fears further attacks – ‘Those dogs should be euthanized’ – KIRO 7 News Seattle

I could hardly ever believe I’d be afraid of dogs; I don’t think I’ve ever personally met a mean one in my life. But a steady stream of headlines like those linked to, in a short period of time — even six months — definitely made a fear of dogs a possibility, for me.

This speaks to me of how prejudices form, and of the effect of media on one’s feelings.

On the other hand, before all this began, my favorable attitude toward dogs showed up in my feeling that the wide variety of facial expressions they display, seem remarkably to match humans’ own. I started a collection of FaceBook posts showing those expressions; the images and videos below are taken from that collection. Unfortunately, in the meantime, many of the posts I had collected had been taken down, so that the images were no longer available.