Pro Talks: with Elite Field Master, Allen Vincent
Allen Vincent is a professional dog trainer and handler at Vincent Kennels in Collinsville, OK. Allen has been training pointers, setters, and other pointing breeds for over 35 years, achieving numerous championship titles and wins in all-age competition, national qualifiers, and derby stakes. We sat down with him to learn a little bit more about his rise to becoming a champion.
When you tell people what you do for a living, what do you tell them?
When asked what I do for a living I tell them that I am a professional dog trainer specializing in bird dogs, specifically Pointers and English Setters. My main focus is on Field Trial competitions but I also develop many first-class gundogs for customers.
What other dog/animal-related work have you done leading up to what you do now?
Since the arena I compete in requires the dogs to be handled from horseback, I have trained many good horses for myself and my customers. I’ve started many horses from the beginning and have fixed a lot of “problem horses” too.
What are your goals for this year with your dogs?
My goals are the same every year, do the best job possible to develop new dogs that get their start here, and keep the older dogs tuned up and sharp going into next season to continue our winning ways.
What would you consider to be your greatest achievement in your field?
I would have to say it would be the fact that nearly all the dogs that I have won with were either born here or came here as puppies. There are many of my contemporaries who do a lot of winning with dogs developed by other trainers, but I take pride in the fact that I’ve been able to take them from start to finish. I enjoy taking raw talent and turning it into a finished product capable of winning at the highest level.
Why do you trust/feed Sportsman’s Pride?
When I got started I was feeding another major brand and was not satisfied with the results I was getting, so I gave Sportsman’s Pride a try and saw improvement in a short time. I think I’ve been with Sportsman's Pride for around ten years now and have been more than satisfied with the results. My dogs have shiny coats, great muscle tone, and plenty of stamina with Sportsman’s Pride.
What do you or your dogs do that set you apart from the rest of your competition?
I like to think it's in the special attention we give to the year-round care of our dogs.
Tell me about the best dog(s) you’ve ever worked with.
That is a bit of a loaded question. There are several I could name that were tremendous dogs, but I would not want to single out those dogs in the interest of not disappointing an owner. They are all the greatest in the owner's eyes!
If we spent a couple of days with you during the season, what would we see during that time?
That would depend on if I was at home or at a Field Trial. At home, we’re usually at the kennel at first light feeding horses and cleaning kennels. Next, we would be saddling horses followed by loading the dogs scheduled to be worked that day. We load horses and head over to the ranch and work till noon or so. After that, we head back to the kennel to unload and care for the animals. About that time we get some lunch, take a little break then head back to work until just before dark. Once we are done working for the day we head back to the kennel to get everyone fed and cared for then it is finally time for the trainers to relax!
How do you like to spend your days off?
There is really no such thing as a day off in this business. Animals must be cared for 7 days a week, so there’s always a few hours of work no matter what. Most “off days” are spent doing maintenance around the farm.
