Curious about how to unleash the animal within? Pet play or human animal role play is an excellent means of getting into a different and unique headspace and learning more about oneself. No matter what animal with which you find you identify, there are plenty of ways to bring your fantasies to life.

• Benefits

One of the benefits of pet play includes practicing nonverbal communication if desired. That is, not speaking in your primary language beyond barks, meows, grunts, or whinnying. Pet play also provides an excellent opportunity for physical activity, be it running on two feet, crawling on all fours, slithering on the ground, etc. When practicing this role with a partner acting as a caretaker, it can also provide ample space to foster relationships of nurturing and tenderness on one end of the spectrum or strict protocol and punishment at the other end.

• Common Roles

Within human animal role play, there is a vast and seemingly endless variety of choices when it comes to the role you’d like to assume. Puppy play, kitten pet play, and pony play are among the most common; however, the sky is the limit. You can be a unicorn or a dragon, a snake or a gorilla, a mouse or a bird. It’s up to you to figure out what strikes your fancy and how you best want to exist within your role. Beyond the animal roles that people can play, there are also various roles for caretakers and caregivers, owners, veterinarians, groomers, handlers, and more.

• Getting Started

A good way to get started is to determine the animal you want to role play as. Try this exercise: close your eyes and imagine giving in to your animal instincts, shedding the burdens of human life and daily stressors. Breathe deeply and try to see in your minds eye how you would want to express this side of you. If you want to, you can even get specific. For example, you might find that you’re a kitten. But what kind of kitten? Are you feral? Domesticated? A tabby? A baby leopard? Think about your most favorite personality traits and how that might translate into your new human animal role.

The next thing to consider is how to make such a transformation and how far you wish to go in doing so. For example, a collar with a bell would be a great start for a small kitten. Going a step beyond, you could wear ears and a clip on tail. Going even further, you could try eating your meals from a dish on the ground or wearing an insertable tail. For puppies, there are hoods and paw-shaped mitts among other accessories. Also, and I cannot stress this enough, if your role involves you crawling on all fours, knee pads are highly recommended. You can find them at a sports shop (ask for volleyball or skating pads) or a kink specialty store. Depending on the intended intensity of your play, you can determine the kind of pads needed in order to make sure you are as comfortable as you want to be.

Games such as finding the red dot (having your caregiver use a laser pointer), being walked on a leash, or being fed treats from your owners hand are all different ways to make the role play headspace more realistic. When playing with a partner, negotiation is always an important part of setting the scene as well. Agreeing on a gesture, signal, or some kind of indication of a scene’s beginning or ending will be useful, particularly if practicing nonverbal communication. This role play headspace is fun and easy to get lost in so it is important to be able to signify when you are ready to start and stop without fully breaking out of your role until you are ready.

• Final Thoughts

Playing in a human animal headspace has a bit of a learning curve; however, once you find you are able to achieve it, getting into and out of the headspace can begin to feel more natural. It is a wonderful way to shed the responsibilities and concerns that we take on in our vanilla lives. It allows for a feeling of release and of getting in touch with one’s animal instincts. As long as you remember to play it Safe, Sane, and Consensual, you’re in for a real treat – or more if you’ve been a good pet!

About the Author

Dee Voyse is a proud kinkster who has been active in the BDSM scene for over a decade. She enjoys sharing her experiences in order to inform and educate and, at times, titillate.