NEVER put on the pinch collar over the dog's head! It will injure the dog's eyes! The right way to the prong collar on is to unhook links or release a buckle.
Make certain that the prongs are not twisted. Put the unfastened collar on the dog's neck so that the O-ring is placed on the right side of the neck (not on the bottom or the top). Connect the collar in such a way: squeeze the end of one link together and place it in the loop of another link.
There are pinch collars with quick-release buckles and you need not pinch the links to put the collar on and off.
There are also pinch collars with click-lock buckles. You just unlock the buckle and place the collar around the dog's neck and lock the buckle instead of the links opening and closing.