I have had good results with dog obedience classes that I took through Petsmart, which uses mostly positive re-inforcement. It also gets into clicker training later......if you want to go that route. I got a 3 yr. old B. Collie/Lab mix just this last summer, and she had not had any kind of training before, and has done great with the classes there.
The other thing that has made a WORLD of difference is a collar called a "Halti" or "Gentle Leader". It works kind of like a halter does for a horse, and just guides their head, rather than pulls it or jerks it. If you have a dog that likes to pull you around, it stops it right away.