I have a pet Rockruff whom i love to bits, but who loves me so much he consistently nuzzles my leg with the sharp rocks around his neck causing a lot of pain and sometimes bleeding. Which he also does not seem to care about or notice Any advice on how i could discourage this behavior?
rockruff naturally rub their manes against each other as a sign of affection and to scent-mark each other. obviously, this is not a behavior we want them to do to us! he doesn't register it as being painful to you because it wouldn't be painful to another rockruff, so you'll have to train him not to do that behavior to humans.
if he starts rubbing in you, immediately back off and recall him to his pokeball. that will teach him that rubbing on you=no more hanging out. at the same time, reward him for appropriate ways of showing affection! making him sit calmly before petting him will also help keep him from getting overexcited.
make sure he also has appropriate places to rub his mane on as well, and praise him for using them. he does need a way to perform this behavior, so get some rock-type polishing posts if you haven't already!
