A dog can mean a companion waiting for you when you get home, a walking buddy, and a pal you can always play with. However, it can also mean torn-up shoes, incessant barking, and a general lack of obedience. Positive dog training can alleviate these problems, but it sometimes feels like your dog just won't learn. This article will provide some advice that will help make your dog a friend, not a foe.

Spaying or neutering your dog can stop a lot of behavioral problems before they even start. Territorial marking, inappropriate soiling and even aggression can be a result of sexual maturation. By neutering or spaying your animals, you can stop your animal from roaming if they ever get out of your house by accident. Spaying and neutering is relatively painless with modern veterinary technology, and your dog will benefit from it for life.

Be sure to take the time to teach your dog his name from the start. You are going to use his name in all of your future training. Use his name when you feed him, calling him for walks and for play time. Be sure to use his name at least twenty times a day and never punish him for coming when you say his name.

Make sure to get everyone involved in positive dog training. If you are the only member of the family working with Fido's behavior, then the other members of the family are giving him mixed signals. Consistency is extremely important in dog training. Also make sure that everyone is using the same key words and rewards so that the behavior will be reinforced correctly. Off and down are two different things to a dog, so make sure you aren't confusing him.

The earlier you start training your dog the better. It is much easier to train a young puppy than it is an older dog. This is not to say that older dogs cannot be taught new things, however, it does take longer and more perseverance to train a dog the older it is.

Remember that your positive dog training is going on 24 hours a day. Do not make the mistake of thinking that you are only training your dog during your obedience classes and practice sessions. Your dog is watching and learning from you during every interaction you have with it, so be sure you are always reinforcing good behavior.

A great tip for positive dog training is to make sure you do not use conflicting command words towards your dog. For example, do not tell your dog to do something you do not want and then punish him for it. This will just confuse your dog and lead to failure.

Allowing your new dog gradual access to all areas of your home will greatly aid you in positive dog training and will spare damage to couches, shoes and floors. As your dog learns not to do things like jump, scratch, and chew, open more doors to him. Many make the mistake of allowing full reign of all rooms, which really just offers the dog more opportunity to do the wrong thing.

Now that you have found some useful positive dog training tips, it is time to put them into action. Before starting any training, make sure that your dog does not have any health issues that can make training harder. Read up on the specific breed of dog that you have and have fun with him.