The skateboarding bulldog appears in movies

Tyson, our favorite skateboarding bulldog, is 3 and 1/2 years old now and is beginning to appear in skateboarding films. I learned this today while exchanging emails with Jim Blauvelt, Tyson's owner.

If you check this video, you will see that Tyson CARRIES his own skateboard, throws it down and mounts it like a pro. With four legs on the board and a low aspect ratio, he exhibits amazing control at  relatively high speeds. When he wipes out, he recovers his board, sets it upright and is on his way again in seconds.

This production photo from Lions Gate Films "Undiscovered" shows Tyson with Steven Strait in hot pursuit. "Undiscovered" is the story of an aspiring model who falls in love with a struggling musician when they suddenly cross paths on a NY subway train.

You can visit this movies.about.com site to see the human actors who support Tyson: Ashlee Simpson, Steven Strait, Pell James and Carrie Fisher.

I write about Tyson, not because he is a curiosity, but because he obviously enjoys what he is doing! We have all seen dogs play with balls and other toys. Tyson is the only dog I know who plays with a skateboard, day after day. And, he is getting better with all that practice! Just compare his early films to the more recent ones.

Tyson previously appeared in the recent movie, Lords of Dogtown. Back in the '70s a group of friends who represented the Zephyr Surf Shop took skateboarding from kids riding down the sidewalk to the serious sport it is today.

Their story was effectively told in the documentary film, "Dogtown and Z-Boys," and now it's been recycled once more in "Lords of Dogtown," directed by Catherine Hardwicke. I could not find a production shot with Tyson in it, but I am sure one will surface.

According to Jim Blauvelt, Tyson still enjoys skateboarding every day. Living In Huntington Beach, he has perfect weather for it. Go Tyson!

Comments

[Tim Chmielewski]

You may have heard of the recent movie "Kung Fu Hustle" starring Stephen Chow. His pet bulldog has appeared in a few of his movies also:
http://hkmovies.timchuma.com/images/scenes/flirtingscholar/fs_big_005.jpg

From this movie:
http://hkmovies.timchuma.com/flirtingscholar.htm

Thanks.

[Lauren Ord]

HI David! This kewl, you should put more stuff like this on Ripples!!

[Thomas Casey]

Hi David, good write-up of Tyson. My wife and I casually know Jim and Lana and their "son" the amazing Tyson. What you're missing: Tyson is entirely self-taught and self-motivated to skate. Jim never trained him to skate, and never gave Tyson rewards for skating or punishments for not skating. Early on, Jim thought Tyson was hostile to skateboarders, but he just wanted their boards! Later, Tyson was given a skateboard as a toy. Tyson alone desired to skate and undertook to learn. He's also the sweetest dog on the planet. Glad you appreciate him as much as we do.