Heeler herding

[Cricketcat]

So this is my first time owning this breed and I got 2 heeler puppies within the last 2 months, a red male and blue female. They are both from working lines and try to herd my chickens. Tonight they successfully ran each and every one of them into the coop after i said "get the chickens" and "bring them here" and they did it without biting or hurting them. I was pretty impressed.
I guess I would like to know how I should go about letting them hone in on their skills? I dont own a farm (yet, but its in the near future) and there are no herding classes near me.

 

[Percheron chick]

Work on their manners. Get them solid on off leash voice commands. Come, sit, stay, down, leave it... Be able to work the dogs independent of each other. I would not be looking for any livestock for them to work at this point.
Heelers are super smart dogs who need to stay engaged. Search out a group on FB. There is someone out there who can help you .

 

[cassie]

You ought to be able to find a good book or two on training herding dogs.