When my German shepherd goes in heat she starts whimpering and uses her big nose to try to herd the cats around like they are her puppies. Needless to say the cats don’t cooperate.
I kept trying to figure out why my Border Collie would run right back into the house with the cats when I would let her out. She runs with her nose right on the back legs of whichever cat is slower, and runs them right into the kitchen. Then she comes to me for praise. It’s taken me several months to figure out that she’s literally herding cats, and actually accomplishing it! She even breaks it up when they fight; she bows up and marches right in between them. She also herds my two sons, which they get a big kick out of. They are all sheep to her.