Help! My dog believes in equal rights...

I knew I shouldn't have let her watch so much PBS.

My dog is currently outside, refusing to come inside.
It is night time.
It is freezing cold.
She is refusing to come in.

Yes, I could make it a command, and being a well-brought-up German Shepherd, she will obey a direct command -- with a Look that makes it perfectly clear what she thinks of the command. But I really don't want to force her to do something she doesn't want to do. (Unless I have to, e.g. "You will let the vet stick that thermometer there.")


She's very happy to see me when I come outside, licks my hand, wags her tail, fraternizes and enjoys my company. But -- here's the thing. Because I'm so paranoid about keeping these gleaming refinished hardwood floors clean, I want her to come in the back door, onto the linoleum so I can wipe off her paws if they're dirty. She wants to come in via the sliding glass door directly onto the wood floors. Can you believe she's staging a sit out over that?

Sometimes I think she does things like this because she's trying to test my limits, see how well she can train me.

Is there a dog psychologist in the house?

Update du Dog: After 24 hours, she has decided she wants to come inside again. She keeps giving me a Look, so I think she's still plotting something. It's a hard life, being a dog. Training humans is thankless task.

Exercise du jour: 45 minutes running at an easy pace.
Exercise fail. Damn. It's pretty early in the week to have to choose between exercise, food, and sleep. If I could find a way to eat in my sleep, I'd be doing much better.