Can anyone help me suggest a dog breed for my dad?

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My dad is recently retired, is about to move to the countryside, and is considering getting a dog. He’s very fit and active, walks for several hours a day, and would like and intelligent and active dog that will enjoy accompanying him on hikes and learning tricks (perhaps agility too). He love the look and intelligence of border collies but i’ve heard they can be a bit nervy/unpredictable. There’d be no children in the home but visiting grandchildren over 7 would occasionally be there. He’s not owned a dog before but has worked with them and is very serious about training and proper exercise etc.

Wise dog owners, any ideas?

I’d not get a collie as a first dog.
Springer?

Highly recommend a lab, black and yellow are easier to train than chocolate. If you keep them a healthy weight they can go for hours on a walk, very biddable, good size without being massive, intelligent without being too smart for their own good 🤣

Border collies are wonderful. If your dad is serious about putting in the time and effort to train a dog as well as to provide sufficient physical and mental exercise (and it sounds like he is), that might be a good choice for him. Another option would be an Australian Shepherd, another intelligent and active herding breed, sometimes described as a border collie that knows when to quit.

Other possibilities: lab, golden retriever, Portuguese water dog.

Labrador would be ideal

Yeah, don't go for a border collie. I used to do rescues and they were always a nightmare because of their unpredictability. Not to say, of course, that you don't get lovely border collies (remember Shep), but there are lots that develop temperamental problems at all times of their lives - not just born like that.
Think about going for a mongrel. They tend to have less medical problems as well. Also if you get an adult, you'll know the temperament because puppies are an unknown quantity.

Collies can be blooming hard work and nippy! What about a cairn or border terrier ?

I have a collie x cocker spaniel and he'd be perfect. He's amazing, not as neurotic as a collie and is energetic but if he gets 2x walks a day hes grand and so obedient.

I meet sprollies sometimes (springer x collie) and they look good too

My cousin had a collie x spaniel and the dog was a total delight. I had a collie/collie mix and he was an arsehole 😂

Golden Retriever. They are very loyal, loving, obedient, friendly and easy to train. They are a perfect dog breed!

Honestly, I wouldn't get a collie. While they do need physical exercise, they also need lots of mental stimulation. All walking a collie for hours will do is create a really fit collie. It won't necessarily tire them out or allow them to settle at home. They need a job - be that agility, cani-cross or working on a farm somewhere. They're not bred to be house pets and while some people do make it work, I think they're generally few and far between.

What about a springer spaniel?

A working Lab (rather than show type which are heavier set) would be fab. A colleague has one and is always going on adventures and doing lots of scent work and basic agility which the pup LOVES. She's very athletic looking as well - not that "fat Lab" look that you get used to seeing.

Definitely worth checking out rescues as well.

My Dad has a sprocker (cocker x springer). The dog absolutely worships my dad and goes everywhere with him. Loves going on walks but not too much energy. Great with kids, lovely temperament.

Springador? The ones I have met look like small black Labradors, often with a white patch on their chests. It depends if he wants a large dog (Labradors are the best), or something that can more easily sit on his lap...

How big or small a dog does he want?
How much grooming could he manage?

Thank you so much, these are all fantastic suggestions. I’ll give him some ideas

I think medium - probably no bigger than a lab. But i also think that if he met the ‘right’ dog he’d be besotted however big or small it was

Labs can be quite big and hairy!!

Border collies are working dogs. If you get a rogue one it will be a nightmare
Border collie crosses are not great country dogs as they will have the herding instinct

Cocker spaniel. Bright, active, engaged dogs in a smaller package. I'd probably look for a working line from non-serious working background if that makes sense. He doesn't want a dog that absolute needs a job 100% of the time, so pups from champion working parents are likely to be too full-on. Or look for a rescue - Spaniel Aid are a good bet.

I was planning to do agility and cani-cross with my cocker but unfortunately he has developed an immune condition affecting his joints (not particularly prevalent in the breed, just unfortunate). The little bit of agility introduction we did before he became unwell was great though - he LOVED the tunnel & seesaw!

Im not sure how old your dad is but worth considering size to a degree (I'm assuming he is mid-late 60s given he's just retired) - in 10 years he may need to lift an older dog into the car, for example, so it is worth considering.

Border Terrier ?

For a first time dog owner, I wouldn’t recommend herding dogs,, including collies, for all the reasons others have given above, much as I love them.
I agree about working labradors, not show trial stock, as they are very “hot” but good gun dog stock. They are bright, keen to please and easy to train, affectionate and energetic.
If he decides to get a pup, please advise him to read up a bit on the developmental stages, including psychology. One of our labs was traumatised as a pup during one of the trauma stages by pulling a sheet down off the line and getting entangled in it (before we got her), so she is a wimp around flapping washing and shaken rugs to this day.

Collies are definitely not a novice breed...

Btw, intelligence in dogs is overrated - what intelligence means is that if you don’t keep them sufficiently entertained they’ll go off and create jobs to do for themselves and that they’re capable of learning more than you mean them to when you’re training them and running rings round you.

Biddable is what most people actually want - they can be thick as mince, but if they’re giving all their effort to do what you want then you can train them to do just about anything.

Bearded collie? Much more placid than Borders but require an awful lot of grooming. (We have an OES but had a beardie growing up - fab dogs.)

JRT? The wire haired type.

Springer spaniel?

intelligence in dogs is overrated
LOL, too true.
Clever and biddable is a lovely combo and a joy to own. Clever and not biddable...well. Always going self-employed.

OP, if your dad is moving to a rural area, he should be able to find people who breed working gundogs of various breeds and crosses. He could do a lot worse than the least driven Springer of a litter, or a Springer X lab with more lab traits, or a working line lab (as a PP says, not from trialling lines, trialling dogs are too bloody ambitious).

If he gets one, and manages to nail stop, recall and sit-stay, he will have a delightful companion.