Kevin DiCicco, the man who owned Buddy -- star of the popular "Air Bud" movies -- and helped create the film series, is being treated by medical professionals as he battles a severe bout of pneumonia that landed him in the hospital ... TMZ has learned.
Kevin tells TMZ ... he contracted severe pneumonia two weeks ago and has been hospitalized in San Diego. He tells us the pneumonia is bad and he's currently being treated with an arsenal of antibiotics.
Kevin -- who found future dog-actor Buddy near his Yosemite cabin and took him in back in the day -- tells us amid his hospitalization for pneumonia .