While watching a nature documentary about elephants, I noticed that not all animals can anatomically pick up and hold their babies—to carry them while they’re on the move, to protect them from danger, or even just to cuddle with them. This observation prompted an illo series consisting of four animals who cannot hold their babies, holding their babies in tender embraces.

I ran this illustration series for three weeks on my blog, Enrichment Activities, titled Sign of the Dog. It features three illustrations of various dogs posing with signs that refer to them.