Some individuals are drawn to animal role play through their spirituality. Whether working with totems, feeling connected to animal spirits, or being drawn to the energy of the werewolf, these individuals feel an energetic connection to the animal in question. They may or may not perceive themselves as Therian—having the energetic body of an animal that does not match their physical form as a human. For animal role players rooted in spirituality, this practice is profound and deeply meaningful. In fact, many role players have had moments of epiphany or other spiritual insights through their opportunity to see the world from a different perspective.
CHOOSE YOUR ANIMAL
Whatever our reason for engaging in animal role playing, there are many ways to tailor it to your desires. We can choose the species we play, its personality, what characters we interact with, and of course what kinds of activities we get up to (and the characters we interact with in those activities). Just choose one item from each of the three categories below—species, personality, and interactions—and you’re ready to go!
Human animals come in species great and small. People who are drawn to horses and ponies engage in pony play. Pony players are often drawn to the equine features of strength, elegance, beauty, grace, power, poise, and confidence. Some want to be show ponies, prancing for spectators and being fed sugar cubes for their coordinated routines. Perhaps the chance to be a sweaty workhorse calls more to you—pulling your partner in a cart up a hill and being washed down by their firm hands afterward. Other pony and horse archetypes include the feisty filly, stud stallion, old nag ready for the glue factory, wild Palomino, focused workhorse, skittish pony, queen of the parade, and the foal on new legs.
The next most common species for animal play is canine (dogs, puppies, and wolves). Puppy players find commonality with and inspiration from the canine traits of camaraderie, playfulness, devotion, and bravery. Others enjoy puppy play because it gives them the chance to be a horny dog in heat, someone’s best friend, or the chance to be bouncy and playful as a young puppy. Human puppies are given a fantastic view of the world, seeing everyone at crotch level. Some examples of puppy play archetypes are the yappy Toy Poodle, sled dog, alpha wolf, prized Chihuahua, kennel bitch, loving Labrador, lonely Basset Hound, Boxer in heat, and Rottweiler guard dog.
Felines are another often-desired animal species for role players. Kitty play might involve role playing as a cat or a kitten, or even wild feline species such as lions, leopards, or tigers. Some are drawn to the loving feline traits of being cuddly, playful, sweet, or sensual, while others are called by the standoffish, aloof, and proper demeanor of some cats. Cats, after all, often exhibit an extreme dichotomy of traits, and this appeals to a number of role-playing possibilities. Kitty play archetypes include the pretty kitty, lost kitten, cranky house tabby, troublemaking alley cat, cowardly lion, and wild bobcat.
Though pony play, puppy play, and kitty play get the most air time in the world of animal role playing, there are many other species to choose from. Farm animals appear often in animal role play pornography, where girls are depicted as cows being milked and gay piggy boys roll around wallowing in the mud. Fans of erotic humiliation might be drawn to worm and bug roles, where a dominant partner can “squish” their partner underfoot or treat them for the length of the scene as worthless and small.
Birds of all shapes are a fantastic inspiration for role playing: think of trained parrots, wild pigeons, elegant swans, or precocious penguins. In the public kinky sex community I’ve played with a human ferret who traveled with its own jingly toys, and it would not be surprising to meet a human rat or mouse. How many of us have enjoyed the aesthetics of scantily clad bunny girls? If you are not drawn to the simple, consider becoming something more exotic—a zebra, monkey, dolphin, snake, or hippopotamus. Even the occasional dinosaur, dragon, or sphinx has been known to make an appearance in bedroom fantasy adventures.
Once we have an idea of the kind of species we would enjoy being, we can explore our pet personality. Would you rather have your animal persona be close to your daily demeanor or something radically different? For example, if you are easygoing in your day-to-day life, you might enjoy an opposite role, like a defensive Doberman; maybe you want to be more like your average self but in dog form, like a happy-go-lucky Golden Retriever.
Neither is better or worse, but it is important to consider what traits call to you today. You can choose a different personality next time. Do you want your pet personality to be lazy? Feisty and bratty? Do you want to use your pet self as a chance to explore submission or service? Perhaps your darker desires come to the surface and you want a safe framework to explore being an abused pony (literally kicked when they are down), or a feral wolf on the hunt for blood.
If unsure in which direction to take your character’s personality, consider some animal names. Are you Lady? Piglet? Lancelot? Beast? Pinky? Boxer? Lord Eduardo, King of the Goats? Names hold a lot of power. Being called by our pet name gets us out of our day-to-day space and into our role. They also tell us a lot about the personality of the pet and how to interact with them. An ironic combination of species and name can also be hilarious, affecting how we treat both the pet and their handler. Most of us would react differently to a Chihuahua named Pinky than we would to a Pit Bull named Pinky.
INTERACTIONS
Reason for play, species, and personality in hand—now what? Now we get to decide what characters we interact with. Will you be a pet on your own, playing with toys or eating from a bowl? Will a human puppy play with another human puppy, or a group of human puppies, at a kinky sex conference? Perhaps your inner house cat and your partner’s puppy will interact with one another.
Others will want to have their animal self interact with a human character. There is a lot of enjoyment to be had by being one of these humans. Do you want to be a pet “owner,” having pride in your pet, investing in or showing off a top-valued racehorse, or bonding with what is yours? For human pet owners, there is an intimacy of connection that can arise as pet and owner grow into their roles together.
Sometimes a pet “trainer” actually spends more time with a pet than its owner does. Trainers have the capacity to create a regimen, formality, and structure with a human animal as they train it how to behave. You might enjoy being a trainer (or playing with one) if you enjoy dominance and submission, or if the notion of positive or negative reinforcement gets your juices flowing. By pushing or cajoling the creature, trainers help push their animal into being the best animal they can be.
Sometimes a pet just needs to connect with a handler, someone who is a fan of pets and likes interacting with them without being invested as a trainer or owner. These are folks who have fun petting the kitty, playing tug-of-war with the puppy, or riding around on the pony’s back. Being a handler can be a great chance to let go of stress, fulfill our need for a nonhuman pet by having a human one step in, or explore bestiality fantasies.
ACTIVITIES
Many animal role players get flustered about what to do as human animals and their handlers. It’s okay. When you see porn featuring thousand-dollar pony harnesses, hoof boots, and a full farm to be run around in, it can feel as if you’ll never go there without the financial investment. This is not true.