Since January 2016 Sykes had been in semi-retirement with him no longer being displayed as available for hire on Gill Raddings' agency website. In September 2016, Midsomer Murders announced that Sykes had retired.
Originally found as a stray, he was owned by animal trainer and stunt dog specialist Gill Raddings.
Sykes was a dog actor from Clifton, Oxfordshire, England.
He was best known in the UK for his appearance as Harvey in Thinkbox's television commercial.