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Dieter Roth's portfolio 2 x 5 dogs was inspired by an animal shelter in Tibidabo, Spain, where the pathetic, caged animals barked constantly. The artist's 1977 visit to the shelter resulted in "Tibidabo-24 Hours of Dogs' Barking", 1978, an installation consisting of a recording of dogs barking, 1600 drawings of dogs bound into books and photographs of dogs taken by his sons. In a number of related drawings and prints from 1978-1981, two dogs fight over a woman. Here the heads of the dogs are symmetrically placed at the upper right and upper left, while the lower body of the woman with splayed, bent legs is seen in the image's bottom half. Superimposed on this scene is a goofy, round face with asymmetrical eyes and ears. Roth drew obsessively; his works record the impulsive movement of his hands. He did, in fact, create some of the dog drawings with his right and left hands simultaneously: Rother felt that he could be more productive this way. Regarding his incessant drawing, his friend, artist Karl Gerstner, noted, "He has the shortest transferal time from head to hand of anyone I know. He instantly has to unload anything that occurs to him."