Beginner’s Guide to Pet Play

You've heard about whips and chains—and even "naughty nurse" roleplays—but have you heard of pet play? A roleplay category all to itself, pet play (or animal play) is when someone gets into the headspace of an animal. This can be done solo (and often is!) but it can also be done with a partner in a D/s context with one person roleplaying the animal while the other person roleplays the caretaker/handler for that animal.

Why Do Pet Play?

Pet play is all about "escaping" the responsibilities of everyday human life by escaping to the world of simple, animalistic responses. After all, at their core, humans are just a different type of animal; we've just evolved into nice, cohesive societies with adult responsibilities, chores, homes, and everything else. Like other types of meditative kink play or roleplaying, the idea is to escape all of the other things crowding your brain and be able to focus on just one thing: being the animal you've chosen to roleplay.

Essentially, pet play provides a space where someone doesn't need to be worried about adult interactions or what bills are due. By embracing the role of an animal, they can escape to the best of their ability; it can be a process that involves the entire brain and allows them to let go of all of the to-do lists going on inside their head.

Depending on how deep the headspace goes, practiced pet players can find themselves in a space that makes it difficult to participate in conversations—like being in a deep meditative state!

While this is regularly considered a kink, a lot of pet players do not engage in sexual activity while in their pet headspace. Of course, there's always an exception to the rule (and if sex while in your pet headspace is what feels natural, we encourage it!) but a lot of pet players enter their animalistic headspace with zero expectations of sexual arousal or activity.

Read: Inside the World of Pet Play

What Type of "Pet" Are You?

Figuring out what type of pet you are is entirely a personal choice. The most-popular choices (probably because these are the most popular house pets) are kitties, bunnies, and doggies.

That being said, "pet play" can include any type of animal. I've seen otter pet play and squirrel pet play too—and for the primal among us, I've seen fox pet play and wolf pet play! Whatever animal speaks to you is the animal you'll likely want to be. (I've never seen a pet-play capybara, but if someone would like to tell me otherwise, I'm totally down!)

Of course, if you've never done pet-play before, you might be stuck on "Which animal am I?" Lucky for all, all you need to do to help figure this out is give it the ol' college try. That is, just experiment!

First, you might want to sit around and daydream about the possible pet play animals. When you imagine yourself crawling around your home, what behaviors would feel natural to you? What animal temperaments seem closest to what you want? Would you want to be trained ("training" an otter is usually a futile effort)? Verbally, try to make the noise of the animal you're looking to emulate. Does that sound natural? Or, at least, does the attempt of trying make your insides feel happy?

With the thoughts out of the way, why not give some physical movements a try. Crawl around your home and see what feels natural. Does a "puppy bow" feel like a comfortable movement? What about the chittering of a squirrel? Does hissing at offensive furniture make you happy? Does the idea of the high protocols and training of pony play appeal to you?

Read: An In-Depth Look at Pony Play

With this in mind, you've probably narrowed down your options considerably. Now all that's left is to actually spend some dedicated time in the headspace while exploring your "world" as the pet of your choice.

And remember, your pet play animal isn't set in stone. At any point in the future, if you feel like things have changed, you can always try out a new animal persona! You can start as a kitten and evolve into a tiger if that's where your journey takes you. It's all about having fun.

Let's Talk Wearable Pet Play Gear

The first thing any pet player will tell you is that: accessories aren't necessary. Your brain is where all of the pet play magic happens, and everything external is just there to nurture your brain.

That being said, most pet players will also be happy to tell you about their favorite accessories—and that's because all of those accessories enhance their headspace. While you can do pet play without a single accessory, each one of the accessories you pick up will likely enhance your headspace—and the reality of your pet play. For your wolf pet play, a swishing of a tail on your thighs will likely feel more realistic than the absence of a tail. For your fox pet play, feeling (and seeing!) little ears on your head will help your pet play feel more realistic than just having your standard human ears.

With that in mind, let's talk pet play accessories.

First off, you might want a tail, mask, and ears. These are all things you can purchase separately, but to save time and money, they can also be purchased a kit. For example, Tailz makes a variety of pet play kits including one with a fox tail butt plug, one with a wolf tail butt plug, and one with a cat tail butt plug. Each one of the kits also includes a headpiece—whether mask or ears.

Our puppy play kit goes even further in providing all of the dog pet play accessories you need. The Tailz Puppy Play Set includes a BDSM dog bone gag, a dog tail butt plug, and a leash and collar for your new puppy.

Of course, there are other types of pet play butt plugs as well. The Crystal Delights My Lil Pony Tail is the perfect fit if "pastel pony" is your pet play aesthetic. Not only is the butt plug made from glass, but the tail is made from high-quality synthetic wig hair and is long and very-flowing.

Read: Kinkly Review: Crystal Delights My Lil Pony Tail

If a bunny butt plug tail is more up your alley, though, the Sportsheets Silicone Bunny Butt Plug is a much better fit. This little poof will stick right out once the butt plug is inserted for a fluffy little bunny tail. If you prefer the heavier weight of stainless steel, there's also the Sportsheets Metal Bunny Butt Plug that comes nicely attached to a black pet play bunny tail.

(Not into anal play? That's fine! While they're harder to find, you can find pet play tails—like a fox pet play tail—with a belt loop. Wear your belt, clip the tail on, and you're good to go. Plus, now it's public-friendly!)

That's not to say that tails "make" the pet play, but for a lot of people, getting a tail (and mask/ears) is some of the most important parts of their pet play accessories! (We also recommend some sport-grade knee pads if you plan on crawling around on the floor often!)

Read: I Tried a Realistic Horse Dildo. Here's What It Was Like.

Other Pet Play Gear

Don't just stop there, though. Your pet play gear can be as expansive (or as small!) as you'd like. For a lot of pet players, one of their biggest purchases can be a human-sized kennel cage or a human-sized dog bed. As a human kennel cage is one of the most expensive purchases for pet play, many people put it off for a long time, but it's definitely one of those items you can start fantasizing about as soon as you really delve into pet play!

On a more affordable scale, you can outfit your home with cheaper pet play toys. If you happen to do cat pet play, a simple giant cardboard box can be a great investment. (Moving boxes from moving stores can be huge - and cheap!). If your pet play needs lean more towards puppy pet play, squeaky dog toys are an affordable addition to your home. If you're more into bunny pet play, carrots can be a perfect treat for your bun-bun. Wolf pet play? How about squeaky-toys that look like slabs of meat?

You can also use household items for pet play accessories. Consider taking an extra blanket and designating it the "human pet bed". Fold it up into a corner, and you have a soft spot that your pet-brain knows is "their bed".

Read: The Ultimate Guide to Using Household Items as Sex Toys

A Note about Safety

Animal jaws (and teeth!) are sturdier and hardier than human teeth. While you can purchase animal toys for your pet play, make sure they're suited for human play. Anything really rough (like bones) or hard to bite down on (like hard rubber) can be a very big no-no for the human mouth.

You also want to look for toys that are washable (our mouths are more sensitive to bacteria than animals'), toys that can physically fit into the human mouth (animal mouths open wider), and toys that can't be accidentally swallowed or choked on (health hazard if you're deep into animal headspace!).

On that note, "tug of war" games aren't safe for human teeth either. How often do our teeth tell pulled outwards in our day-to-day lives? That's right: never. If you want to play tug-of-war during your pet play, we recommend letting your human pet use their hands to keep it safe. It's supposed to be a fair fight anyway, right?

Some Pet Play Scenes to Get You Started

At a loss for where to start? Some of these basic ideas might help inspire you into some full-length scenes—or just some ideas for how pet play will fit into a scene you already had planned:

• Set a timer on your cell phone (we recommend 30 minutes to start), and get on the floor and off the furniture (if your body allows it). From there, spend the next 30 minutes purely trying to get into the pet play role. Experiment with making animalistic noises. Try out pet-play behavior. You're not allowed to touch your phone again until the timer buzzer goes off, so don't let yourself get discouraged and quit if it doesn't feel quite right at first!
  
  
• Consider finding or making treats that are similar to your pet play animal's "food". Jerky is always a great choice—or cookies shaped like your animal's food of choice. Not only does the finding or baking of the treat remind you of your pet play space the entire time, but you can use the treats later on!
  
  
• If you have a partner for pet play, ask them to "take you on a walk" that day. This might include a collar and leash (if you're a tamed pet) or just futile efforts of calling your name to get you to behave. You can do this just as easily in your own home as outdoors.
  
  
• If you're more comfortable with your pet play (and knowing what activities you enjoy while in that headspace), consider "setting up" your ideal playspace for your pet-self. Does that involve squeaky toys all over the living room floor? Maybe it's a bowl of treats and water with a giant box and open windows for sunlight laying? Maybe it's a tray with food you can eat as messily as possible without your hands? Whatever your choice, you can pre-set your playspace and then pop into the headspace to play with the items you've set out.

We hope your pet play adventures are a hit, and you find that inner fun (and relaxation!) you've been looking for!