With the dog facing you, you would take the chain collar, slip the chain through one of the end rings to form a loop and hold it so that the collar looks like a "P" as you slip it over the dog's head.  Make sure that you place the collar on the dog properly, as a collar that is put on backwards may jam when a correction is given, and will not release properly, placing undue and undeserved tension on your dog's neck.

How to use a training collar:

The training collar should hang loose with some slack in the leash when you're walking the dog.  It is pulled tight with a quick "pop and release" motion where you quickly pull the collar tight, followed by immediate release.  This is the *only* time that *any* tension is to be placed on the collar, only when a correction is truly needed.

A correction should be given only if a command such as "heel" or "sit" was ignored by the dog.  If the dog continually strains and pulls on the collar, or the handler is continually pulling back on the leash, the training collar is not being used effectively -- and the dog's throat may be injured over time.  Please contact a professional dog trainer to teach you how to properly control your dog.

General Collar Safety:

Check collar fit frequently - every few days on a growing puppy!  Some collars can stretch and thus need readjusting, and even an adult dog's neck may still grow a bit, requiring readjustment.

Don't attach tags to training collars such as choker/metal link or slip collars. These collars should not be left on dogs; they are to be used only during training sessions.  Attach your dog's ID and other tags on a flat buckle collar, which stays on the dog and make sure that this collar fits well!  You should be able to insert two fingers under the collar, but not have it much looser than that.  A dog can slip his head out of a loose collar and it's also dangerous as he can get a paw stuck in a loose collar or get the collar caught on other objects, which can lead to injury or strangulation.

Most people leave collars with identification on their dogs at all times because of the risk of a dog getting lost without identification and ending up in the animal shelter.  However, strangulation is a tragedy no matter what the frequency, so many people remove the collar if they are crating their dogs.  Place the collar in a handy location right by the crate, but don't lay it on the crate where the dog may pull it into the crate and chew on it.  Important: if removing a collar during crating, immediately put the collar back on as soon as the dog is removed from the crate.

Microchipping is highly recommended, but it is not a substitute for standard collar with identification tags because most people and even some animal shelters don't check for microchips. Tattooing the ear or inner thigh is another good ID strategy. Another alternative is the kind of collar with the address/phone number stamped right on the collar.