EzyDog Checkmate Martingale Collar for Dogs – Premium Nylon Training Dog Collar for Easy Control with no Choking (Medium, Red)

We have had these collar’s before and they have been great. Unfortunately we were walking our two medium sized dogs, 50-55 lbs each and both with the medium sized collars, when a group of deer appeared. Both took off quickly and both plastic clips shattered immediately and we were off for a long ride! We have never had this happen with previous martingale ezydog collars. We may try another martingale brand now with better clips. Otherwise they have been great for training and everyday use. Too bad warranty is only 30 days.

This is a fabulous design alteration from the original martingale collar. The design is brilliant. It lays nice and flat.Well done

I have a dog with a sloped neck that made most collars slip right off if he backed out of them, even properly adjusted. For a collar not to slip off his head, it would have to sit very uncomfortably tight on his neck. Martingales are designed for dogs who have "sighthound" necks - a petite head and a broad or sloped neck.I wanted a martingale (which is designed to solve this problem). Most people tend to view martingales as a "nicer" looking choke chain, and adjust them too tight. I noticed a lot of reviews remarking that their particular collar wouldn't release after tightening (which I did not experience), and that having the collar tight for extra long was "scary". If your Martingale is adjusted properly, EVEN IF stuck all the way tight, it should NOT be choking your dog. Martingales are not designed to put undue pressure on your dog's neck - at fully tightened, it should fit snugly, but you should still be able to fit a finger underneath the collar.As I mentioned above, I never had my martingale "stick" and be unable to release back to loose fitting. All of my leashes have swivel snaps at the end, so there is no twisting motion on the collar at all. The only way I can imagine a twisting motion on the collar is if your dog is lunging straight ahead of you, and the pressure on the ring is pulling directly back from the collar. I walk my dogs at my side in a loose leash, casual heel, and do not allow my dogs to pull me across the neighborhood in front of me. So perhaps that is why I completely avoided the twisting issue.I wanted this martingale over the more traditional types because I had a previous dog who was a somewhat obsessive neck scratcher, and would get her back foot stuck inside the loop of the standard martingale collar (when loose, those martingale loops form an "O" shape). This one lays flat, minimizing (but not removing) the risk that a limb gets stuck in the loop.I also appreciated the reflective threads sewn in to the collar for safety, and the ID tag attachment piece, to keep the tags away from the leash so they don't clink around as much.I'm very happy with this collar and so is my standard poodle, who can't squeak out of it - when he backs up, the collar tightens so it can't slip off his head, but doesn't over-tighten so that it chokes him. The buckle is nice, but I find that I rarely use it since my dog is the small head type designed for martingales - the collar slips right on over his head.

I tried all kinds of collars for my 5 month old pup and the Checkmate Martingale wins hands down. I used a harness from 10 weeks to about 4.f months. Then we had to graduate to a collar - I tried a nylon choke collar, slip lead, a chain choke collar and a regular martingale collar.First, ALL of these items have to be placed over the pup's head, which is a pain in the butt - both to put on and take off. Further, a young pup will tend to freak out with any collar on let alone a choke collar. For me, chokes are too harsh for a young dog as they tend to back away and pull harder (choking themselves all the while). I then moved to a slip lead. The lead was easy enough to slip over the pup's head, but always needed to be adjusted to take up slack after it was put on, as well as to allow slack remove it. And since a slip lead is simply a choke collar and lead in one - I was back to a frantic chocking pup. So a martingale seemed like the best choice - the pup will get a slight squeeze without being choked silly.I initially tried a plain old nylon martingale collar with a chain check. It worked fine, but as already mentioned - I had to slip on and off the pup's head. This was a constant battle because when adjusted properly the collar is a little tight going over the head. Just not fun for me or the pup. This is were the EzyDog Checkmate beats the others -it's a martingale collar with a clip buckle. So you adjust the collar to fit properly and there is no slipping the collar over the pup's head - just put it on like a regular collar using the buckle. Easy peasy! It works wonderful and I have a well behaved pup on a leash. I'd buy it all over again.

As another reviewer noted, the "D" ring is so heavy it constantly migrates to beneath the neck and reverses position with the tags, so I'd ding that a 1/2 star.But for $14.40 it is hard to beat the overall high quality of this collar; it's stout and has very rugged stitching, which includes reflective stitching that really pops out at night time very well, esp. for such a relatively small area.It has proven useful for walking and training, no harsh jerking required just more gentle reminders to stay in place and not surge ahead and this must be 100x better than those metal choke chains, at least for a typical dog owner.Bought Feb 2019 now Aug 2020 this collar has help up well. The super heavy "D" ring is still a tad annoying, I do wish it had dedicated places to attach the strobe lights. I clip one to the rubber adjustment band, the other directly to the collar.Dec 20202 Note: since I have used two small clip-on strobe lights on her collar, the unexpected/added bonus was after adding her tags and the clip-on lights, it countered the overly-heavy 'D' ring and everything now rests where it should. Get that extra band on this collar and make this a point-of-sale.

The collar is sturdy, adjustable and a good width.

Perfect replacement for our very worn red collar.

Be careful, it tightens when the dog pulls but doesn't release as easily, I had to keep loosening it with my fingers. Do not leave on dog when unattended.

Secure fastenings, correct sizing guide, comfortable with plenty of adjustment