The best dog training collars will ultimately do two things. First, they will enable you to enhance your communication with the dog. Second, they will do so without causing pain or psychological harm to the dog. It is important to remember that anyone can become abusive to an animal when they use the collar as a form of punishment.

A well designed dog training collar will allow you to offer your dog correction without causing harm. For instance, a choker collar that is used appropriately should never hurt the animal. If you use it for slight correction tugs, it is harmless in your hands. If you use it to yank your dog around by the neck, you can cause physical damage to your pup.

When a dog is not listening, it is our tendency to yell, yank, pull, and restrain. Therefore, choker collars or prong collars are considered especially dangerous. Should your dog lunge or make a sudden movement, it is too easy to apply excessive force. A dog on the end of a choke collar that is being pulled too tightly is more likely to pull harder in an attempt to free himself from the pain rather than submit.

Finding the best dog training collar starts with your training technique. Some experts claim that if you are using a positive reinforcement system, a regular leather collar will be sufficient. Every dog has the potential to become an escape artist and thus a regular collar that fits correctly can easily be ditched by the dog. Using a collar that combines the safety of a regular collar and the added security of a choker is generally considered to be the best dog training collar by most experts.

These collars look like regular fiber based collars that have a small chain section at the top. This combination prevents you from choking the dog with the chain but slips in close enough that the dog can not escape. They are good correction collars because they allow you to provide an attention getting snap without injuring the animal in any way. Also known as a Martingale collar, these collars allow you to remain in control while not harming your dog. Shock collars, spray collars, and electric based collars are not considered to be effectively humane forms of dog training.

If you want to invest in the best dog training collars, start with looking at things from the dog's point of view. A dog who responds to you only out of fear is not a happy dog, and is not a dog who will be counted on to listen when it really counts. A dog that has a loving fearless relationship with you is more apt to listen all the time out of respect.