I decided to download TikTok at the start of the pandemic in early 2020. Since my time on the app, I have found some incredible social media stars of the canine variety, including Tatum Talks. 

In each of Tatum’s highly entertaining videos, the pup “talks” to his parents, Charles Lever and Nicole Lever of Bangor, Maine. He currently has a dedicated fan base consisting of 3.4 million TikTok followers. 

While the pit bull has a wonderful life, full of fun and sponsorships, he seems to have had a tragic past. When Nicole and Charles adopted the dog from the Pixel Fund in April 2016, he was in rough shape. 

“He was 10 pounds when he was rescued. He was starved, you can see that his teeth are worn down,” shared Nicole during a December 2020 interview with NEWS CENTER Maine, alongside her husband. 

Charles chimed in that the dog had “scars on his face and a broken tail.” The Maine resident also shared that the dog was nearly put down while speaking to DOGS by Rocky Kanaka in March 2022. 

“He was rescued by animal control and placed in a high kill shelter,” stated the dog lover. 

He went on to say that Tatum was briefly fostered by an unnamed individual. 

“He was rescued by his foster mom, she was like ‘this dog has been through a lot. I really don’t want to put him in a home for even a weekend that might not be serious.' He’s been passed around so much’ and so Nicole’s like okay, we’ll just adopt him forever,” shared Charles. 

He then revealed that he came up with Tatum’s iconic voice the day the couple adopted him. 

“When we got home we had a conversation of what his voice would sound like if he could talk,” said Charles. 

Nicole and her husband began filming videos of their dog speaking his mind for their friends and family members. After some encouragement from their loved ones, they decided to upload clips of Tatum on social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok. 

During the DOGS by Rock Kanaka interview, Charles noted that he is grateful that his dog has so many loving fans. 

“He’s got a lot of fans who I think really care for him. There are really people who reach out especially during the past eight months every day that are like ‘he got me through today he saved my life. I just found Tatum and I can’t believe I haven’t found him before,’” said Charles.