2025 Wrapped: A Year in Review with K9 Commando

Blog Post • 16 December 2025

As 2025 draws to a close, we can hardly believe how fast the year has flown by. If you caught our previous blog posts, you’ll know that the start of the year was packed with conservation talks, workshops, and teaching. From the Conservation Detection & Nosework Seminar in January to giving talks at Brinsbury College, attending the Haldon Forest Bark event, and Devon’s Little Owls workshop, we spent the first months of the year connecting, learning, and sharing our work with students, researchers, and the public. But if we thought the first half of the year was busy, we had no idea what the rest of 2025 had in store!

At the end of May, we welcomed a very special new team member, Anakin (or Ani as we call him). Anakin is a Belgian malinois who joined us at just 4 months old. Despite being so young, he had already been through several homes, through no fault of his own. His first home apparently neglected and mistreated him, yet you would never know it from meeting him today. Anakin’s sweetness, resilience, and energy have been incredible to watch, and we are so grateful to have found him. Ani has quickly become part of the K9 Commando pack, bringing enthusiasm, curiosity, and a little bit of cheeky spirit to everything we do. We can’t wait to see how he grows and contributes to our adventures in 2026!

Anakin at 8 months old.

In June, we launched the K9 Commando Adventure Club, a new initiative for anyone who loves the outdoors, dogs, and adventure. Whether you’re a dog owner, a dog lover, or just someone who prefers trails to paved roads, the Adventure Club is about reconnecting with nature, meeting like-minded people, and challenging yourself, both physically and mentally. Each month, we take on trail runs, hikes, group activities, and more.

In July, we attended the Working Dog Exhibition in Sheffield, where we got to catch up with friends, meet new faces, and support a cause close to our hearts — anti-poaching K9 teams in Africa.

In August, we were thrilled to be named Specialist Dog Training Service of the Year at the South West England Prestige Awards 2024/25! This recognition means so much to us, as it reflects the hard work, dedication, and passion that goes into everything we do at K9 Commando. We are incredibly grateful to our clients, colleagues, and supporters for making this possible. Thank you for helping us achieve this milestone!

Anakin accepting the award on the orange carpet.

The last few months of 2025 saw us travelling internationally for work and professional development. While in Budapest, Hungary, we spent several days training alongside our friends Laura and Árpád at Gödöllői Kutyasport Központ (GKSK), a centre well regarded for its work in IGP and protection training, as well as in dog training.

Our time there focused on deepening our understanding of bite work and helper/decoy techniques, with hands-on sessions that benefited both us and the dogs. It was a valuable opportunity to observe high-level training in practice, refine our own skills, and expose the dogs to new environments and challenges. Experiences like these are an important part of how we continue to learn, adapt, and bring proven methodologies back into our own programs.

Dan and Moose during a protection training session.

In California, USA, we spent time working alongside long-standing friends in the motion picture animal training industry. This gave us the opportunity to train a range of species for specialist tasks, exchange techniques, and contribute to ongoing projects within a highly experienced professional community. During our visit, we also assisted Mike with the continued training of his service dog, Sarge, who is being prepared to support a military veteran.

For us, this trip was both professional and personal. While our company is proudly based in the UK, California is home for Kylie, who grew up immersed in the motion picture animal training industry. Returning allowed us not only to reconnect with friends and family after time away, but also to revisit the foundations of Kylie’s training background and integrate those early influences into the work we continue to develop as a team today.

Mike, Dan, and Sarge in beautiful Beverly Hills — always a pleasure to spend time together.

In November, Kylie was granted her Level 1 Hazel Dormouse Survey Class Licence (CL10a) by Natural England. This milestone enables us to expand our ecological and conservation work, particularly in hazel dormouse surveys, habitat assessments, and the continued development of our detection dog applications within woodland environments. It represents an important step forward for both Kylie’s professional journey and the company’s growing role in conservation work.

Also in November, K9 Commando was recognised in Corporate Vision’s Small Business Awards 2025, receiving Wildlife Conservation Business of the Year – UK and the Award for Excellence in Dog Training. This recognition reflects the breadth of our work across conservation, training, and detection, and the dedication of the team behind K9 Commando: Kylie, Dan, and our dogs Moose, Sparrow, and Anakin. You can read more about the awards here: https://www.corporatevision-news.com/corporate-vision-magazine-celebrates-the-winners-of-the-small-business-awards-2025/

At the beginning of the year, Moose sustained an injury that required an extended period of rest and rehabilitation. While this meant a significant amount of time away from work, his health and long-term wellbeing were always our priority. With the support of our regular veterinary team and specialist clinicians, Moose followed a structured recovery plan throughout the year, and we’re pleased to say he is now back to full strength and enjoying work again.

Alongside these highlights, we continued our day-to-day work throughout the year, including one-to-one dog training, group classes, conservation detection, ecological surveys, and more. None of this would be possible without the continued support of our incredible clients, colleagues, friends, family, and everyone who has been part of our journey this year — we are truly grateful to you all.

As we look ahead, 2026 is already shaping up to be an exciting year. There are projects from this year that we can finally share in the months ahead, along with new developments that will continue to expand the scope of our work. Conservation remains at the heart of what we do, with further detection dog projects and ecological work planned, alongside new opportunities to grow and bring fresh experiences to our community.

From all of us at K9 Commando, we wish you a very happy holiday season and a fantastic New Year. Thank you for being part of our 2025 — and here’s to an even bigger, bolder 2026.