Puppy Play 101

A puppy play girl in a pup hood, with a black collar

Puppy play is a type of BDSM roleplay. It involves men, women, everyone who wants to pretend to be a pup (often taking on the "submissive" role) while their handler (often the "Dominant" in this scenario) will engage with them (sexual or non-sexual interactions). It is a very popular type of pet play within the BDSM community. There are numerous boy human pups, but many prominent women and non-binary pups are starting to make a name for themselves in the scene as well (Tumblr and Twitter are popular hang out spots for them as well as Fetlife).

Pup play can or can not involve costuming, like getting a "hood" (the mask that's shaped like a dog's face). Prices range from $175-500+, depending on the material and how elaborate the hood is. Some pups opt in for some kind of full body suit (often latex or spandex type materials). Some will attach a tail (often via butt plug or a clip-on tail). Knee and elbow pads are very popular and strongly recommended since it helps keep the pup's knees and elbows padded (the body will start to ache if you're on your hands and knees all day, regardless of how much you move around or adjust your weight). 

Recent studies show that the biggest reason that people choose to partake in puppy play (as opposed to something like the kitten play or pony play community within the pet play community) is to have a form of escapism from the real world. Very few puppy players do it for humiliation purposes like a common misconception is from the vanilla (non-kink) and/or BDSM community in general (since there's numerous misconceptions involving the puppy play, in and out of the BDSM community).

Human pups are strongly discouraged from consuming dog food (or any other kind of food marketed towards biological pets like dogs, cats, chickens, horses, whatever the item is) as their sole food/intake source of calories because these kinds of food bags are not meant for human consumption. They are not built for human nutrition. There's numerous human food look-alikes that human pups can eat (like cooked chicken, oatmeal, among other things). 

Fox play is a popular sub-community of puppy players. As the name suggests, it focuses on the pet player taking on the persona of a fox. More about that in a different article, since this article's primary focus is to give people a basic understanding of the puppy play community. 

There are many BDSM, leather, and spandex pride events all over the USA that happily welcome puppy play players. Some conventions are specific to puppy play. There are a few flags for the puppy play community as well!