Pet play is an incredibly unique and increasingly known sub culture within the BDSM, D/s and Kink lifestyle. To put it simply, and before we get into the complexity of animal play, it simply refers to one or more people acting or roleplaying as a particular animal. You are pretending to be a particular animal, and you are taking on the qualities of that animal with animal like tendencies. Typically, the animal will play a submissive role within a D/s relationship with the dominant being a human trainer or master, but there are variations of this. Most notably within situations where an animal is lacking a trainer, and ‘plays’ with other animals or by themselves. This is very common within puppy play, where a group of puppies will form a ‘pack’ and play together with or without a human trainer.
The common animals that you will see within animal play are ponies, puppies, pigs, and kittens – though there are variations of this and anyone can play a particular animal that they associate with. Bunnies, cows are less often seen within animal play, but still exist.
Why Do People Enjoy Pet Play?
Again, there are several reasons for this but we will explore the two most common reasons here.
Firstly, the idea of role playing an animal is seen as a form of escape. You can escape the role of being a human, escape the daily struggles and simply revert back to the mentality of a particular animal. Take for example a typical puppy. The only concerns that they have is food, play time, and enjoying time with their owner and these are the attributes that will be carried through when role playing a puppy. If you are seen as a cute and snuggly puppy or kitten, you don’t have to make sure that the bills are paid, or be responsible for cleaning the house. You can focus and relax on the responsibility of being a ‘mindless’ pet.
Secondly, an animal is seen as being less than human and in some cases it can reinforce the relationship between a dominant and submissive. Non-human pets are owned and are completely dependent on their owner. The owner decides when they are fed, the owner will buy their toys, and the owner will decide if they need to wear those adorable little outfits from the pet store or not. A non-human dog can’t drive themselves to the veterinarian when they need medical treatment, and they must rely on their human owners to do such things for them. The same can apply to human role playing pets and animals. It is the dominant, or the master which decides for them. There is also an aspect of humiliation within this type of play – being something less than human and being forced to potentially eat from a bowl and be led around on a leash can be humiliating for some and there might be some arousal in that.
Of course these two reasons can be separated, or they can be united. A person which views puppy play as a form of escape from the world might not be keen on the idea of a dominant and submissive lifestyle and only view it as a form of play and escape. It might not even be sexual in nature. However a person that enjoys the Dominant and Submissive aspect might play once a weekend, every once in a while of they might be more regular in their play. From there, they might be required to eat like a pet, or they may be allowed to sit at the table as a human. The possibilities, the engagement and level of being an animal varies. As it is with any form of activity within kink and BDSM – the level of engagement varies between individuals, couples and the community.
How To Get Started On The Adventure Of Being A Pet
Firstly, in order to get started on the adventure of being a pet within pet play, is the most important step. You need to let your partner, significant other know that you’re interested in the idea of pet play. We’ve just read about about kink and introducing kink to your partner, so you might be able to get some ideas from that – but to do that, you’re going to need to work out precisely why you want to engage in this type of play. Do you need it as a form of escape, or are you really turned on by the idea of being dominated or having your partner submit to you? You need to have a lengthy conversation on what that’s going to entail and how you’re going to negotiate through that. This will be very helpful if you’ve already played with kink and the idea of bondage and submission, as Pet Play is only a short, hop skip and a jump to the next aspect. However, if you have never engaged with kink before, then you might have a little trouble introducing it to your partner – this is why it’s important to identify the exact aspect of pet play that you’re interested in and then build stepping stones to that. For example, if you’re looking at it for the domination then you might want to consider you or your partner becoming dominating within the bedroom without the aspect of pet play. Allowing your partner to become accustomed to that role before moving on to the next step of maybe introducing some pet play toys, or by introducing a pet play character that you can both play around with in the bedroom. This will make the transition much easier to handle than anything else.
For the most part pet play will involve someone playing the pet, and the other person playing the master and dominant. There are variations within this, especially when there are multiple pets (specifically puppies), but this might mean that you’re not going to have a very successful time. It’s dependent on your community, friends and network. Once you have reached the point where you want to discuss pet play, take it slow. One of the main things that you want to come out of the discussion is the expectations of what you both want out of play time. Does the animal/pet want to lounge around and be pet-like, or do they want to be active and annoying like an over excited pet all the time. Do they want to be ignored and left alone for the most part or do they want all your attention and devotion on them?
It’s A Fascinating Journey
It’s absolutely fascinating to discover this journey, because once you strip away the human responsibilities of an individual, you will be surprised at what lies beneath. Their personality will change when they assume the role – a serious and proper girlfriend might become rambunctious and over the top as playing a kitten, and a quiet and tame boyfriend might become the life of the party when he’s playing in a puppy. The journey itself is amazing and varies between people – however it’s important to note that the lines of communication are left open as the role will change overtime, your engagement to the role will change over time and there’s going to be moments in life where you will both need to take a break from role playing because there’s just too much going on in life. It is recommended to join a fetish community like FetiLife to find like minded individuals who are interested in the same types of interests and desires as you are.
Author: Stephen Smith – BA Of Social Sciences, M.Ed
Meet Stephen, a bold and opinionated cis-gendered gay advocate for gender equality and sexual education. Join him on the Adultsmart blog for fearless insights.