Professional K9 Equipment & Police K9 Supplies

Ray H. Allen 1907-1990 Ray H. Allen 1907-1990

Ray On The Range

Ray's First Shop

Product Line Circa 1985

1950's Style Training Suit

Today's Training Suit

In 1912, five-year old Ray H. Allen left Stockton, Missouri in a covered wagon and moved west to Colorado with his family. Ray was a “Cowboy” from birth — ranching and the western lifestyle were always close to his heart. In 1948, he and his wife Frankie established a Saddle and Harness business in Colorado Springs, eventually developing a relationship with the Mule Division at Camp Carson (now Fort Carson) providing tack products for the U.S. Army. When the Army chose to relocate its Sentry Dog Program to Camp Carson in the early 50’s, Ray was asked to assist the Mule Division by providing some basic K-9 products. Every K-9 Corps trainee was given a dollar and directions to Ray’s shop to buy his leash and collar.

Eventually, Ray was asked to provide more products for this program and others like it throughout the country. Hence, Ray Allen Professional K-9 Equipment was born, writing the specs for Military K-9 Equipment.

In July of 1977, after years of hard work and moderate success in the K-9 Equipment business, Ray and Frankie prepared to retire. They sold the company to a group of businessmen who brought Frank W. Howard on board to manage the organization. Frank eventually purchased the company and the Howard Family ownership of the company began.

At this point, Ray Allen Mfg. really began to grow. Through exhaustive marketing efforts and attendance at nearly every K-9 trial and competition in the country (putting hundreds of thousands of miles on the company van), Ray Allen Mfg. established itself as the top K-9 equipment supplier in the country.

As time passed, Frank W. Howard’s son, Kevin, became extremely involved in the product development side of the business. Kevin began working with canine handlers/trainers and K-9 Cops throughout the country, becoming one of the most respected K-9 trainers in the U.S. This grass-roots involvement was an extremely important aspect of product development for Ray Allen Mfg. and remains so today.

Seeing the need to service an evolving marketplace, the product line began to shift from basic equipment to more elaborate and functional tools. Initially, products that could not be produced in the U.S. were imported from Europe. However, as training requirements changed, they could no longer be met with antiquated products, so, new and innovative products were developed by Ray Allen Mfg. to adapt to the varied and specific needs of Police, Military, Schutzhund and Ring Sport professionals and enthusiasts. Ray Allen Mfg. began producing the “next level” of K-9 training equipment. And through our continuous involvement with training, all products were tested in actual situations. Furthermore, when it was discovered that a particular need was not being met by existing equipment, new products were “invented.” The ability to provide tried-and-true merchandise as well as innovative and unique equipment set Ray Allen Mfg. apart from the rest, and put the company on the road to industry superiority.

By 1990 Ray Allen Mfg. was acknowledged as the world leader in Professional K-9 Equipment and prepared to move into a new and larger facility. Ray H. Allen had continued to be involved with the company, becoming a mentor of sorts to Kevin Howard, even helping Kevin make his first saddle. The Howard family brought Ray to a Police Trials event in the late ‘80’s and gave him a T-shirt that read: “I AM Ray Allen!” There are still stories circulating throughout the office about the size of Ray’s smile while he was wearing that shirt and the incredible number of people that came up to him just to shake his hand. We lost Ray in December of 1990 but not before he lived long enough to see his company reach some lofty accomplishments.

Through the ‘90’s, the company prospered and continued to provide innovative products to the industry. Our relationships with K-9 professionals and unrelenting work in the field allowed us to perfect existing products and develop more innovative merchandise for use in the K-9 world. That trend continues today.

Frank W. Howard’s ownership of Ray Allen Manufacturing Company, Inc., came to an end in early May 2007. We are now formally known as Ray Allen Manufacturing, LLC. While the company may have been sold, nothing else has changed. The management team and employees of the company have remained the same so the operation continues exactly as it has in the past. We still consider Ray Allen Mfg. to be a family business.

Ray Allen Mfg. continues to be the only supplier of working dog equipment with a complete offering of all the products necessary to properly train K-9's. We are persistant in developing new and innovative products for this ever-expanding industry and always welcome new product ideas from our loyal customers or anyone in the business for that matter.

After 60 years in business, our mission remains the same:

To Be The World Leader In Quality And Innovation Of Professional K-9 Equipment For Police, Military, Schutzhund and Ring Sport; Exceed Our Customer’s Expectations; And Deliver On Time, Every Time, At A Fair Price.

Ray Allen Manufacturing – About Us