What Is Puppy Play?
30 Oct 2017
I asked my partner what he thought of puppy play. "Is that the thing where guys wear dog snouts and stuff?" he asked. I told him it was. "It's ridiculous," he barked, adding, "I don't understand why guys want to be treated like that." I think most of us probably think puppy play is weird, a little absurd, and maybe even preposterous. I remember feeling the same way when I first heard one man call another daddy. But now, all these years later, I get charged up when a man says to me, "You make Daddy's dick feel good, you're such a good boy." So let's break down puppy play and see what it's all about.
Watch "Skuff: Dog House" at Hot House
Puppy play isn't new, but it is gaining in popularity. I saw my first puppy-play scene back in 2014, it was a Titan Men DVD called Hard Play and it featured then lovers Aleks Buldocek and Tony Orion wearing dog masks and leather paws and rolling around the floor barking before Aleks mounts his canine buddy and fucks him. I've seen the odd puppy-play video since then -- Bear Films has filmed a series of three scenes -- but this month Hot House released a whole DVD entitled Skuff: Dog House where puppies please their masters and are rewarded with a bone.
But Puppy play isn't always sexual, although it can be. Essentially one participant assumes the role of the dog, the other his handler or trainer. And let's be clear, there are no real dogs in puppy play scenes, that's something completely different. And if you think that being a puppy is only about being degraded you're missing the point.
In real life, puppies are fun and carefree, they live in the moment. And for many, that's the appeal. Puppy play is the perfect antidote to taking ourselves too seriously. A pup can shed his human personality and have fun getting lots of attention and affection. Haven't we all needed a pat on the head and a "good boy" after a particularly hard day at work?
The handler gets to express his desire for dominance while training his puppy. And this can take many forms, it's really up to the participants to explore and negotiate. In one of Skuff's scenes, Trenton Ducati tells his puppy to roll over and Skye Knox does and barks every time he completes the roll. In the end, master fucks his puppy for being good and obedient, but this is a porno and that's what we expect.
Pup Play is a website for enthusiasts of puppy play and the site makes it clear that while this is a sexual fetish, sex doesn't always have to be a part of a scene.
Puppy play doesn't have explicit rules either. There are no shoulds here except that it should be safe, sane, and consensual. If a puppy says that he's okay being whacked with a newspaper for disobedience, cool, but sometimes he may want to explore praise, positive attention, or playful aspects of the scene with no threat of punishment like being locked in a cage, and that's okay too.
In the opening scene of Hot House Skuff's, mail man Gabriel Cross delivers letters to a house and he tries to run when he hears dogs barking. Two pooches gallop out of the door and tackle the mailman. Michael Roman and Jake Ashford sniff and lick the postman, then the trio falls into a rousing round of dick sucking and Roman fucks Cross while a dog tail bounces in his own ass. Again, this is Pornland and a real-life puppy scene may not end with you getting a cock up your butt. If that's your goal, then make sure you state it clearly before the scene begins.
Puppy play is just a different kind role playing where one participant gives up control and the other assumes it. Just like Master and slave, cop and prisoner, daddy and boy, or construction boss and workman, these scenes allow us to suspend reality while we explore and discover what turns us on. Life is already serious enough and sex is supposed to be fun, so why not let go and see what feels good? What's the worst thing that can happen? You could decide puppy play is not for you and maybe you and your partner will have a laugh figuring that out. Or maybe you discover that you really enjoy wagging your rump with a dog tail shoved in your hole and there's a whole world waiting to be explored.