I am the owner of a 3 year old border collie. I would love to be able to take him on walks, but he has a fascination with wanting to chase passing cars, or he just gets excited and pulls me around. I've tried the gentle corrective leash tug whenever he pulls, as well as just stopping when he gets out of control and he gets the idea halfway through our walk, but the next day he reverts back to the same behavior.any ideas on how to get him to walk calmly beside me the whole time?

Border collies need to run, and have years of herding instinct in them.
Aside from training you to realize that 'gentle tugs' need to be short snaplike tugs with a firm word, far be it from me to tell anyone who has a border collie that it is going to be easy.
But you need to take him to a park where there are other dogs at least 2 - 3 times a week.

You need to train your dog. You must be the alpha or authority to the dog so the dog will know he has to follow your demands. Google or check out a book on dog training. I can't do it here because it takes a full book.

There are a few techniques you can try, some harder but gentler and some easier but harsher.

The 'focus' method works very well although can take some time to learn.
Start in your home and get your dog to sit in front of you.
Make him focus on you and only you. Repeat the command 'focus' or 'watch me' so his attention stays focused on you.

If he does not break the sit and remains staring at you give him a treat.
If he breaks the sit or looks away, repeat the whole process again.

Keep doing this until he is confident with it.

Then you can start introducing distractions in the background. A noise, someone walking past a door, anything to try and get his attention away from you.

This is where the tricky part starts... you need to get him to remain focused on you even with the distractions.

Eventually you will be able to work up to doing this training out on the street or in the park where there are the biggest distractions of all.
Border Collies are smart, it might take a little while to build up to him focusing on you and not chasing the cars but I have seen this technique work on a lot of dogs.


Another option is to invest in a check chain. They are relatively simple to use but wherever you by it from please consult them on how to put the chain on properly. They only go on one way and if put on backwards can choke the dog.

With a check chain they are designed to give the dog a correction every time you give the lead a quick tug.

They are similar to a prong collar in how they work but much less painful.

Lastly you can try a harness. I personally haven't had much luck with them but I know a lot of people have.
They clip around the dogs chest rather than around their neck, a lot of dogs feel more comfortable with this type of device and naturally walk better, although with most there will still be a some amount of training involved.