Why does my dog sit in my spot when I get up?

If your dog has been sitting in your spot when you get up, you might be wondering why and what you can do about it. This post will show you a number of reasons why your dog might be doing it and what you can do to get it to stop.

So,, why does my dog sit in my spot when I get up? Possible reasons why your dog sits on your spot, when you get up, are that it has learned that it gets rewards for doing it, boredom, it finds your spot comfortable or that it wants something from you.

There are many possible reasons why your dog might have been doing it and it could be due to a combination of reasons. However, there are some things you can consider when figuring out the main reason and there are some things you can do about it.

Why your dog sits in your spot when you get up

Below are a number of reasons why your dog might have been doing it and what would make them more likely.

It finds it comfortable

The reason why your dog has been doing it could simply be that it finds the spot more comfortable than the other places available to it. This would be more likely if it also sits there at other times as well and if it sits there when you are sat in a different spot and if it does not move to sit in your new spot when you get up.

If it sits in your spot, when you get up, regardless of where you sit, it would be more likely to be due to one of the reasons mentioned below.

You have encouraged it

The reason why it does it might be that it has learned that it gets rewards for sitting in your spot. If you tend to give it things such as toys, treats or more attention, when it sits in your spot, it will likely do it more in order to get more rewards from you.

Instead, it would help to try to avoid rewarding it when it does it, to reward it when it sits where you want it to and to use positive reinforcement training to get your dog to stop doing it.

It wants something from you

The cause could also be that it wants something from you. This would be more likely if it tends to do it more at around the same time that you would normally give it something such as a walk or food. This would be more likely if it does other things such as bring is leash to you.

Dominance

Many people jump to the conclusion that their dogs do it because they are trying to be dominant. However, the alpha/beta dynamic has been disproven in studies showing that wolves take turns in taking the lead.

With that being said, it could be doing it due to bullying behavior which would be more likely if it shows signs of aggression when doing it. In this case, it would help to avoid giving it reasons to feel threatened and to get it to learn to behave the way you want it to with training programs such as NLIF (“Nothing in Life is Free) dog training.

Boredom

The reason why it does it might be because it is bored and needs more exercise. This would be more likely if it does not do it as much after getting exercise. It would help to ensure that your dog is able to get the daily amount of recommended exercise for its breed.

Things to consider

Below are some things to consider when figuring out the main reason why your dog has been doing it.

What else happened when your dog first started sitting in your spot

If your dog did not always do it then it would help to consider what else happened when it started doing it since it could be the case that there was an event that caused it to start.

If it did start doing it suddenly then it would be more likely to be due to things such as learning that it gets rewards when it does it, it’s old spot becoming unavailable to it or if you suddenly started working longer hours and it sits there when you’re away. It would help to consider what else happened when it started doing it.

Whereas, if it has always done it then it could be doing it for any of the reasons mentioned above.

What is different when it does it

It would also help to consider if there is a certain time that it tends to do it more. If there is then it would be more likely that the timing has something to do with it.

For example, if it tends to sit there when you are away then it would be more likely that it does it because it smells your scent there.

What to do about your dog sitting in your spot when you get up

Below are some things you can do in order to get your dog to stop sitting in your spot when you get up.

Avoid rewarding the behavior

As mentioned above, it might be the case that your dog has learned that it gets rewards for sitting in your spot. Instead of giving it rewards, it would help to get it out of your spot and to wait for it to be calm before giving it any rewards.

Positive reinforcement training

Positive reinforcement training is where you get your dog to behave the way you want it to by rewarding it when it shows signs of behaving that way and avoiding rewarding it when it does not.

To use it to get it to stop sitting in your spot you could reward it when it does not sit in your spot and train it to sit somewhere else as shown in this post.

Give it another comfortable spot to sit in

If there is not currently a comfortable area for it to lay down, it could help to give it somewhere to do so. One option would be to get a dog bed for it to lay down on in the room you tend to sit in.