Why won’t my dog leave my room?

If your dog won’t leave your room, you might be wondering why and what you can do about it. This post will show you a number of possible causes and what you can do about them.

So, why won’t my dog leave my room? Possible reasons why your dog won’t leave your room are that it wants something from you, fearfulness, separation anxiety, it finds your room comfortable, or you have been rewarding the behavior.

There are actually multiple reasons why your dog might have been doing it and it might be due to a combination of reasons. However, there are some things you can consider when figuring out the main cause.

Reasons why your dog won’t leave your room

Below are a number of possible reasons why your dog won’t leave your room and what would make each of them more likely.

It wants something from you

The cause might be that it wants something from you. This would be more likely if it does not leave your room when you have something such as food in your hands but it does leave when you do not have things it wants.

Fearfulness

The cause could also be that something has been causing it to be fearful. This would be more likely if it has started staying in your room suddenly and if it does it more at a time when it might be fearful. Things that could be causing it to be fearful might include fireworks or other pets.

Separation anxiety

The cause could be that it has some separation anxiety. This would be more likely if it tends to become anxious when you are leaving home or going to bed at night. Signs of being anxious could include crying or pacing. 

It finds your room comfortable

The cause might just be that it finds your room to be comfortable. This would be more likely if your dog also stays in your room when you are not around. In this case, it could help to try to give it another place to lie down somewhere else in the house.

Encouraging the behavior

It might also be the case that it has learned that staying in your room results in it getting rewards. If you tend to give it things such as toys, treats, or extra attention, when it stays in your room, it will likely do it more in order to get more rewards.

Things to consider

Below are some things to consider to help figure out the main cause.

If it always did it

If your dog did leave your room, in the past, it would help to consider what else happened when it first started staying in your room. 

If it started doing it suddenly, it might be due to things such as:

• Something causing it to become anxious
• You got another pet 
• Learning that the behavior gets rewarded 
• Something causing it to be fearful 

What is different when your dog does leave your room

If your dog does leave your room sometimes, it would also help to consider what is different when it does leave your room. If it does do it sometimes, it might be the case that the timing has something to do with it. For example, if it leaves when you also leave, it would be more likely that it is following you due to things such as separation anxiety or wanting something from you.

What to do about your dog not leaving your room

Below are some options you have when dealing with the behavior.

Avoid encouraging it

As mentioned above, it might be the case that it has learned that the behavior gets rewarded. Instead, it would help to reward it when it behaves the way you want it to and to try to avoid rewarding it when it does not.

Limit reasons why it might be anxious

It might also be the case that it has been doing it due to something causing it to have separation anxiety. It would help to limit reasons why it might be anxious by doing things such as letting it pee, get exercise and eat before being left for a long time.

Give it a daily routine to get used to

It could also help to feed it and walk it at around the same time everyday so that it does not need to follow you around to see when you will feed or exercise it.

Give it another comfortable place to go

It could also help to put a bed down somewhere else in the house so that it has another comfortable place where it can lie down.