If you’ve ever met with me to address your dog’s tendency to forge while on walks, you probably already know about the amazing Starmark Pro-Training Collar. Developed by Starmark several years ago, this collar has been a true life saver for many dogs and has been my go-to training collar for dogs of all sizes.
For those not familiar, let me tell you a little about this remarkable training tool. The Starmark collar is constructed of durable plastic that is comfortable for your dog to wear all day. The material makes it light weight yet quick to respond to leash pressure allowing a quick and painless correction to be given to your dog if needed. Starmark combined the martingale and prong collar to create this gentle tool allowing sensitive owners to communicate with their dogs should they be pulling.
This collar works best when fit high on your dog’s neck and snug enough to not allow any rotation or slippage. The collar is made to be opened, then placed around your dog’s neck, then securely closed. It is NOT to be slipped over your dog’s head. Doing this can possibly cause harm to your dog’s eyes should they be scratched accidentally in the process as well as it leaves the collar sitting too loosely around the neck. The added benefit of this collar is the ability to add or remove links to make the collar fit your dog’s specific neck size. You don’t have that option with a lot of other training collars which makes this quite ideal in the dog training world. You can start using this collar on your young dog and simply add links as he grows and matures.
Transitioning your dog to a Starmark Martingale collar will allow you to give less corrections and protect your dog’s neck from constant pressure and/or stricture from other collars they pull in to like buckle or chain collars. Typically my clients see results within minutes of transitioning to this wonderful collar and are so pleased they are truly smiling by the end of the first lesson.
As I mention in the video (see link at bottom of page), this collar can be quite difficult for elderly or those with weak hands to open and close. Luckily there are a couple of companies, Pawmark being one, that have attached quick releases to the strap. I highly recommend you look for these specific collars to make your life easier should you fall into either of these categories. I also suggest you keep the collar one link too large while practicing putting the collar on your dog, especially if they have a longer coat, until you get the hang of it. Don’t worry, this usually takes only a few attempts! Once you’re comfortable with the process, remove that extra link and you are all set.
If you think your dog would benefit from this training collar, I strongly urge you to consult a knowledgeable dog trainer in your area to help you fit the collar and train your dog to walk on a loose leash with you. You can also “heel” on over to my YouTube channel to view my recent tutorial video on the Starmark collar including how to open and close the collar while on or off of your dog.
Loving Guidance, LLC 
I have to be honest with you I am anti prong collar so am a little hesitant to try something like this. I have found talking to them as I walk usually works wonders, my husband reckons I bore them to death and they end up in a trance walking beside me. I have to confess he does fall asleep a lot while I am talking to him.
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I completely agree with you on the point of talking to your dog to help keep them engaged with you. However, this is not always possible with high drive dogs. I always tell everyone, and practice it myself, that there should be a lot of “coaching” between owner and dog. This way the dog knows when they are doing something right or wrong. The coaching needs to be kept to a minimum though so as to keep the dog listening. If they hear your voice all the time they will stop listening so you want to keep your voice something important and special.
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Do you use this collar for other types of training? In home? barking, jumping, other obedience commands?
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This collar can definitely be used for any training program as it is a clear signal to your dog that the behavior is undesirable. You would have to have a leash, or tab leash, attached to give a timely correction but I always recommend a training collar to be used for any training you do, not just one behavior. This way the dog understands in each element what is required of them. Hope that helps!
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How can you call yourself ‘loving guidance’ when you endorse a product like this?? Whatever happened to reward based training and positive reinforcement?? no matter how you try to dress it up, this product is designed to cause pain/discomfort when the dog does what you don’t want it to do…. This will lead to the dog ‘shutting down (learned helplessness) and whereas the dog appears to be ‘behaving’, it’s actually just frightened and miserable 😦 Personally I prefer to redirect my dogs bad behaviour and reward them when they get it right, no harsh training tools required.
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I will answer each part of your comment starting with the most important. Reward based training and positive reinforcement is always part of my training program. Using treats to motivate and guide a dog to perform a specific behavior is always my first option and it works wonderfully for puppies and dogs when you are training them the beginning steps of a behavior. When a dog becomes old enough to start to make their own choices, questions the behaviors their owners are asking them to do, or just decides they don’t want to do it, there has to be a consequence the dog will respect. When you reach this point, that’s where the simple withholding of the treat or a nice “No.” no longer works.
As with anything in life, when someone (person or animal) needs to learn right from wrong there must be some type of consequence so that the unwanted behavior does not happen again. I learned this quickly growing up. Mom would yell at me and tell me not to do something but the older I got her words no longer worked alone so she would start to spank me. This worked until I became older and the spanking no longer had the same effect at which time she moved to soap in my mouth. Each of these were painful, horrible experiences for me when they happened yet they were effective. Same is true with dog training. There must be a consequence the dog respects and some dogs need more than a simple verbal “Knock it off.”
It is also important to discuss your comment that the dog shuts down. This is not true when training is done correctly. When dogs are trained properly with any training tool, they are much happier because their roles in the family, or what behaviors they are allowed/not allowed to do, are clear. I have yet to meet a dog that was trained properly not be enthusiastic when their collar (Starmark, prong or remote system) is presented to them to be “dressed” so they can go on a walk, car ride, adventure, etc. Every dog that goes through training with me, and every dog that is trained by a professional dog trainer, loves their equipment because it is used properly. They are never frightened or miserable. They are barking with joy, bounding in circles, impatiently waiting for their collars to be put on so they can go on their walks, not hiding in a corner shaking miserably as you are leading people to believe.
Every collar causes some type of discomfort to the dog no matter what you tell yourself. A Gentle Leader puts pressure on the dog’s nose, pulling it to one side so they cannot pull as hard. You can not tell me that the dog is comfortable in this position. They have just learned to walk awkwardly and deal with the pain and discomfort, to get where they want to go. Picture those dogs who are literally choking and coughing while pulling in a martingale or flat collar, those dogs are definitely in a state of discomfort but they don’t care. A dog that has learned to deal with the choking sensation has to have something different happen to stop them from accepting that pain. Easy walk harness must feel like a straight jacket or hobbles to a dog since it does not allow their front legs to extend and move properly, confining them to short little strides. So, as you see, everything causes some type of discomfort or it wouldn’t work. The Starmark causes less damage to a dog’s neck than the constant pulling and choking from tug-of-war matches from other collars such as flat colors or martingales. When using a collar such as the Starmark, there should be very minimal corrections and they should be soft and easy on the dog’s neck making the training process a lot quicker and easier both physically and emotionally for the dog.
My last question to you, and probably one of the most important, have you even tried this collar? Have you ever been shown how to use it properly? Until you have, I wish you would research a little about a tool you wish to discredit because you may learn a lot about training tools and dog training as a whole. It truly all comes down to how it is used.
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