Meet the Real Animals Who Inspired Our Characters

Hello fellow animal and pet lovers!

Today we are going to tell you all about the REAL animals behind the Dexter and Friends characters. I bet you didn’t know that all the animal characters in our series are based on the actual pets or wildlife that inspired our writer, Tamara Forge.

Of course we must start with the star of the show, Detective Dexter Doggley…

This is Rocky, when this picture was taken Rocky was still just a puppy. Rocky’s keen sense of smell and inquisitive nature inspired the character of Dexter. 

‘Dexter the dog is a brilliant detective, he uses his nose and it’s very effective!’

Rocky is nearly 5 years old now and he still lives with our writer in his New Forest countryside home in England. He is always full of fun and everyday is an adventure.

This is Tigger, he was a very young kitten when this picture was taken in 1979! Tamara was born less than a year later and she grew up with Tigger by her side. Tigger’s fun-loving and very caring nature inspired the character of Little Puss. Tigger lived a full and happy life to the ripe old age of nearly 21, which is very old for a cat. 

This is Mrs Oakley, she also lives in the garden and surrounding woodland of Rocky’s New Forest home. She can usually be found gathering the walnuts and hazelnuts from the landlady’s neighboring trees! With her twitching nose and bushy tail she was the perfect inspiration for our nut loving character, Hazel.

This is Mr Prickles, he is a frequent visitor to our writer’s garden and can very often be found snoozing in log sheds or napping in compost heaps (this is why we must always be careful to look for sleeping wildlife before we light bonfires!) Of course this behavior inspired our lovely character Prickle, who likes to hibernate during the winter months.  The real Mr Prickles will come out on warm summer evenings to eat any yummy dog food leftovers from Rocky’s dinner.

This is Pepper, Pepper was part of a dynamic duo – Salt & Pepper! These cheeky pet mice were the inspiration for the whole mouse gang that cause endless mischief and mayhem around the McDrew household, in the Dexter and Friends series.

Now that you’ve met their real counterparts you can see the likenesses in our lovable crew, so from us, the pets, the wild animals and from Dexter and Friends – 

“We hope you enjoy the series!”