Robb Putnam is an artist who creates large scale sculptures of cartoon-like dog heads and figures out of discarded materials. The Bark profiled his work in 2009 shortly after his graduation from the Mills College MFA program. Robb’s new work will be featured in the exhibition “Larger than Life: Exploring Scale in Contemporary Art” — June 2 through August 18, 2013 at the Bedford Gallery/Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek, CA.

Mocha is a bright young Pitbull/Lab mix in New Jersey who needs a permanent home. Your patience will be rewarded ten fold. www.ehrdogs.org

Last week saw the passing of Deanna Durbin, the wholesome star of Depression-era films, who wryly called her image that of “Little Miss Fix-It Who Bursts into Song.” Her stardom was meteoric and for a short 12-year period, she was hugely popular. Both Winston Churchill and Anne Frank were fans. Durbin is shown here with her beloved dog Tippy, said to have been purchased at a pet store for $2.

The Hyena & Other Men, a series of portraits by Pieter Hugo of Nigerian itinerant performers who use animals—monkeys, pythons and hyenas to entertain townspeople. The photographs are haunting, surreal, cruel but fascinating imagery, and another indication of man’s brutality. Hugo details the project in an essay entitled “The Dog’s Master.”

Leather dog collars made for Louis Bernacchi’s sled-dog ‘Joe’, who worked on Borchgrevink’s Southern Cross expedition in 1899, and with Bernacchi on the Discover expedition from 1901 until his death in 1902/1903, with brass studs and two brass name plates impressed ‘Joe Southern Cross’ and ‘Joe Discovery’. These extremely rare historical artifacts will be auctioned at Bonhams December 4, 2012.

This New York street art protests puppy mills and quotes Trilussa, the Italian poet.

The Bark’s November-December cover dog behind-the-scenes of her shoot. Meet Whiskey and learn about her amazing medical breakthrough …

Congratulations to Don Nelson on being inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame today. One of many great stories about “Nellie” … late in his career, Nelson returned as coach of the Golden State Warriors. Soon after arriving, he introduced the “66 rule.” The impetus was Monte Ellis, a young second-year player drafted straight out of high school who was prone to sulking. When things didn’t go his way he’d pout, so Nelson created the “66 rule” — “I’m 66, and too bleeping old to take this crap …”

Pictured: Nelson with his rescue dog Lucky

Bark contributor, Saverio Truglia, sends us this photo of his Beagle, Petie. Its unofficial title is “No guts, no glory.” Both Saverio and Petie live in Chicago.

“A Woman and Her Dog in Harlem” by Gordon Parks. New York City, 1943. The city celebrates the centennial of this important photographer, writer, filmmaker at New York’s Schomberg Center, focusing on Park’s documentation of African Americans in Harlem and Washington, D.C., during the 1940s. The International Center of Photography has created a free public art installation featuring Park’s photographs in a large-scale photo mural and slideshow visible from the sidewalk.