Dog behavior question. There's been a bit of a temporary routine change in my house, and my dog has been acting "off". Yesterday while I was trying to get her in the house, she didn't want to come in. I tried coaxing her in, but she stayed away from me, and then started to act really odd. The more I tried to coax her to me (normal tone of voice) the more submissive she got. I finally got her to come to me, and gave her lots of loving, but she still refused to come in the house. About this time I got really firm with her (tone of voice), and pointed in the door, but still no success. After a few more minutes of telling her, coaxing her and showing her what I wanted her to do she finally came in. Then she was doing the same behavior inside, "oh don't mind me I'm not a threat" and scrunching down. She was finally ok a while later, but she hasn't wanted to go outside much (and this is very abnormal behavior for her). My question is: when your dog starts to do that kind of behavior and your standard box of tricks is empty, how do you get your dog to do what you want him/her to do?

temporary routine change? Is there someone new in your house? Has something unkind or scary happened to your dog in the house of recent? The dog is frightened to enter somewhere she formerly felt safe in. I'd look into that. You need to alleviate whatever has caused this change. Your dog is sending really clear messages.

Well the question should be what is your dog trying to tell you? Is the air in your place OK? Have you checked the carbon monoxide detectors? Have you been feeling headachy, dull or extra groggy lately? She had a good reason for not wanting to go inside, and it's clear she understood you wanted her inside, but she could not comply because of ____. So she was submissive because she knew she was being disobedient, and couldn't make the problem any plainer than by staying outside. What change in routine? It's not about your bag of tricks, it's about figuring out what she's trying to tell you.

my 1st thought, something is wrong IN the house Try to figure if there is a specific place inside she does not want to go. Something is surely a miss

equal chance it's a mister

yeah we need more detail to figure this one out.

s_r said that the dog doesn't want to go outside much anymore either. That's why I think she's afraid of the doorway itself.

Won't come in from the back yard? It sounds like she's afraid--maybe of the door? Could she have caught her tail in the door recently or maybe snagged her foot while passing through? Maybe something startled her once (loud noise?) in the doorway and so she associates it with scary stuff? I'm no expert, but I would put her on a leash and calmly walk in and out of that doorway with her a couple million times. Give her a small but really tasty treat every time you cross over. Then see if she'll do it herself when you her from the other side, still giving treats. Whatever you do, remain very matter-of-fact about it. Do not speak harshly to her if she shows fear but also don't pet all over her when she's in that state.

once my dog suddenly became afraid of the living room. He would just stop at the entrance and did not want to go in. I finally figured out that his nails needed to be clipped. The floor in that room is laminated wood and having long nails made him slide around. After clipping his nails and having him (reluctantly) walk through that room, he was fine.

Ok thanks ODTM and FD. Between the two of you I remembered that she hates, and I assume is scared by high pitched beeping noises like the alarm system being deactivated (this is also a new thing). And I'd just come in the house and turned it off when we went outside. Thank you, I'll have to remember to be extra considerate of her when coming in the house from now on. :)

you can work on desensitizing her to the noise by giving her awesome treats every time you set and disengage the alarm. And can you muffle the sound somehow? it's probably hurting her ears.

There's already some muffling since it's in another room with a closed door. I have no idea where the sound even comes out of it. I'll have to take a look at it tonight. And treats are a good idea. And thanks to everyone else for chipping in with suggestions, much appreciated. Gratuitous dog photo (ain't she a cutie?):

AWWW! She has aussie in her! Tyro & I also have aussie type dogs.

really? I'm not very familiar with catahoulas but I thought they looked more like pitties. She's got this lovely long nose. Whatever she is, she's a cutie.