Tillman the Skateboarding Bulldog

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About

Tillman was an English bulldog who rose to viral fame in 2007 for his exceptional skills at skateboarding and setting the Guinness World Record for "Fastest 100 Meters on a Skateboard by a Dog." On October 28th, 2015, the celebrity bulldog died from complications of heart diesease on October 28th, 2015.

Origin

The Dog

Tillman was born in Camarillo, California on June 6th, 2005 and raised on the west coast by Ron Davis, an avid surfer and construction manager who works and lives with his family in Oxnard, California. According to an interview with Davis conducted by the animal-themed podcast Pet Life Radio in 2008, the Southern California resident initially brought the newborn English bulldog into his family as a gift for his wife on Mother's Day, but he ultimately assumed the role of the primary caretaker as the two grew closer like fraternity brothers. A naturally athletic dog, Tillman has shown his penchant for tetherball and soccer, and by the age of three, he had become a local celebrity animal for his skillful displays in skateboarding, as well as snowboarding and skimboarding, under the guidance of Davis.

iPhone Commercial

The story of Tillman's viral fame began in January 2007, when YouTuber RNickeyMouse uploaded a video clip of Tillman casually propelling himself and cruising on a skateboard at a park in Venice Beach, California (shown below). Originally accompanied by Linkin Park's "Giving In" as the background music, the video clip steadily made the rounds online throughout the first half of 2007.

Spread

In June 2007, Tillman broke into national fame after You clip was prominently featured in an Apple iPhone commercial (shown below). Shortly after the commercial's debut, YouTuber RNickeyMouse removed his original upload due to concerns of copyright infringement for using Linkin Park's song without permission. However, RNickeyMouse's video was eventually reinstated with an alternative audio track.

Guinness World Record

In August 2009, Tillman was officially recognized as the world's fastest skateboarding dog by Guinness World Records, after traveling 100 meters (appx. 328 ft) in just under 20 seconds (shown below). Tillman remained the title-holder of the world record until September 16th, 2013, when another skateboarding dog named "Jumpy the Dog" beat his previous record by fractions of a second at 19.65 seconds on the set of 'Officially Amazing' in Los Angeles, California.

Death

On October 28th, 2015, Tillman died at age of 10 from complications of a heart muscle disease that he had been diagnosed with earlier during the summer. The death of the celebrity skateboarding dog was reported on by many local and national news outlets across the United States, including the Washington Post^[11], Newsweek^[22], NBC Today, BBC News, Daily Mail and A.V. Club, among others. Later that same day, Tillman's caretaker Ron Davis updated the Facebook fan page with an epitaph, which garnered more than 26,000 likes, 9,600 shares and 9,000 comments within the first 24 hours.

"We shared so many memories skating, surfing and hanging out together. No words can truly describe how much he’ll be missed. Thanks for all the good times, Tilly."