While I have my pen in range of the tablet surface to be drawing it's fine. The problem is when I lift the pen away from the tablet and then try and go back to the spot where I was drawing it doesn't read. I have to actually move the pen to the dockers and then onto the canvas in order to get the pen to draw again.

Which Operating System and which version of krita are you using? What tablet are you using? How long has this been happening?
Have you read: https://docs.krita.org/en/user_manual/d ... ng-windows and tried following any of the advice in that section?

For Windows 10 especially, uninstalling then reinstalling the tablet drivers is a good idea anyway. Have you checked to see if the tablet maker has issued an updated driver for your tablet? If you're using a Wacom tablet and Windows, you need to set up a specific profile for krita in the Wacom tablet control utility.

When you move the pen to the dockers, do you have to touch the docker area to get it to draw on the canvas again? Can you get it to draw again by moving to the Toolbar or any other non-workspace area?

I uninstalled the driver and installed the one that said beta and the problem is resolved.