Spike is the name of Snoopy's desert-dwelling brother.
Spike is Snoopy's older brother and the sibling most often seen in the Peanuts strip. He lives in the desert near Needles, California, where he spends much of his time around saguaro cacti and rocks. His extremely thin body, drooping whiskers, sleepy eyes, and battered hat make him easy to distinguish from the better-known Snoopy.
Spike first appeared on August 13, 1975. Charles M. Schulz named him after his own childhood dog, creating a personal link between the character and the cartoonist's life. In the strip, Spike's isolated desert existence often becomes the setup for quiet jokes or surreal conversations with supposedly living cacti.
Snoopy has several siblings, so Spike is sometimes confused with Belle, Andy, Olaf, or Marbles. Spike is the desert resident; Belle is associated with the Kansas City area, while the others have different story roles. He also appears in animated Peanuts productions, including I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown, where he temporarily becomes Rerun's dog.