We are all animals when you get down to it.

Beneath the daily grind—under layers of language, routine, and expectation—there lies a primal instinct that wants what it wants! Sex, of course, but also to play, to connect, to be held, to feel safe and seen. To just exist in the body without overthinking it. In that sense, we’re not so different from dogs, who embody that loving but mischievous energy to raw perfection.

Pup play is all about embracing just that. Sure, it’s kinky, but it also creates a space where primal energy meets tenderness, where dominance and submission can be explored without words, and where silliness and sincerity coexist happily on all fours.

But don’t take our word for it. We spoke to top dog Pup Ami, runner-up in the Mister Fetish World competition, about his own personal journey into kink and his advice for all those underdogs of queer kink looking to dip their paws in the water of pup play. Pup Ami certainly isn’t all bark and no bite—and they’re here to show you what can happen when you dare to follow your instincts home!

How and when did you first realise you were into pup play?

I feel that I maybe had a bit of an unusual path into pup play. My first experience comes from exploring my first and biggest kink, erotic hypnosis. It happened about ten years ago when I met a hypnotist live for the first time. 

We had played online for a while, but he suddenly had a work trip that was close enough for me to travel to as well. So we met up and had a weekend with a lot of different kinds of hypnosis explorations, like hypnotic arousal, freeze play (a kind mental hypno bondage) and much more. One of the things we did was him turning my mind into a playful puppy. I sank down on my knees, my brain became much simpler, easily excited and we played a bit of fetch with a makeshift ball made of a pair of rolled up socks for a minute or two. I remember so clearly the moment when he snapped his fingers (to bring me out of the trance) and then he casually went to the bathroom. While he was in the bathroom I found myself on my stomach, breathing heavily, with the ball of socks right in my face feeling so intensely surprised by how much I had enjoyed those last few minutes of play.

Like I remember feeling almost ashamed afterwards about how much I had enjoyed that moment. I felt back then like I was so weird and strange to become so energized and excited by something that also felt so childish and silly. I was totally overwhelmed by all these intense feelings, especially as a person that hadn’t come out about my interest in kinky play. So I kind of pushed away these thoughts and feelings for a few more years as it felt a bit too much at the time.

But the interest in puppy play slowly grew back on me and started showing up in other places like in my porn search results and in short play moments with other kinky people. I slowly built my confidence and interest in puppy play by doing more hypno sessions with hypnotists online. Finding out ways for me to relax, play and enjoy in the pup headspace mindset.

All of this slowly made me more comfortable and interested enough to order my first pup hood about four years ago from this amazing brazilian pet play hood maker called Tuftsquad. And after the hood arrived at my place my ”Pup Ami” side of myself has just slowly grown more and more over the years.

What does pup play mean to you? What does it involve?  

Pup play has several layers for me:

The first is a playful primal energy. It gives me a way to connect and indulge in my more primal instincts and feelings. Allowing me to shut down my thinking brain a bit and to just enjoy and seek out the things I find pleasurable and joyful. This could be sensual and sexual. But it also allows me to indulge in more simple and playful things like playing with balls, biting and licking on things (or people *lick*) or snuggling up in someone's lap to enjoy pats and scratches.

Then there's Dominance & Submission Play. Pup play gives me a playful non-verbal way to explore D/s (Dominans & Submission) dynamic with people. For some reason I really enjoy not needing to be creative with my words when playing kinkily or sexily with someone. Having my partner talking dirty to me while I am only able to follow or react with simple whimpers, woofs and noises feels just very liberating for me. Also the clear dominance aspect of having one person controlling the speech in the setting is also very hot to me.

Finally, it's also about Community. Meeting other pups, feeling their playful and cheeky energy. Seeing how they allow themselves to relax and show these other sides of themselves that they might not normally get to express in their daily life. It’s just so beautiful to see people expand and grow as people by allowing themselves to be more playful. The puppy community is extremely supportive and inclusive, and everyone has their own way of expressing their puppy sides.

How sexual/non-sexual is pup play?

For me puppy play can be enjoyed as much in a playful non-sexual way as well as in full hot love making mode. Non-sexual things could be playing fetch with things, taking a small walk with a leash or snuggling up on the sofa and getting pats and scratches behind my neck while we watch a movie.

Sexually it could be being called a ”good boy” mid sex as a reward and boost to turn my mind into a primal horny fuck monster that just want to ravish and devour you. Or use it to bring out my submissive side that just wants to follow orders and give pleasure to my handler.

Switching things up is what keeps me interested to continue to explore all of this.

What’s your absolute favorite thing to do as a pup?

My current most favorite thing to do as a puppy is to bite into people and things. I love leaving a nice mark on my partner's neck and arms. Arwf! *bite*. One more bite thing is with things that are small and light enough to fit in my mouth, then I really really enjoy shaking them as well. You know, like how real dogs grab toys and then playfully shake their head quickly as if trying to ”kill” their prey. There is just something so banal but satisfyingly primal by having something soft in your mouth (like a pillow or plushie) and then just shake your head and release all that energy in your brain with it.

How did you first go about meeting handlers and other pups? Did you start by reaching out to the community, going to a club, or playing privately? 

I would say that I first started by bringing up my interest in pup play to kinky minded (or at least kinky interested) play partners, hoping that they would be interested in playing as a handler to me as a pup. Sometimes I would bring and show some of my puppy gear during a play date to see if some kind of spark would light up in their eyes. Sometimes it worked really well. But usually this was not a great tactic to find likeminded people. It was usually easier to talk about it first than to just spontaneously show it.

But I would say that it all became easier after I started going to the pup events at my local kink club, SLM Stockholm. There I suddenly could meet other pups and build friendships and relations with likeminded people. I could geek out on cool gear that people had. And I could talk with people and realise that they are all pretty normal people. You know in the beginning of this I was still worried that I was too weird for being into pup play. So just meeting others who enjoyed it but who were still cool and chill people was just so reassuring.

Is there a particular website or App you use?

Nowadays I think I get most of my new puppy contacts from either finding and chatting with them on Instagram or finding other likeminded kinksters on the Recon app. But I would say my best way is usually meeting them live at different special fetish friendly events or clubs.

Same thing with handlers. My best way of meeting new people to play with has either been just going to events as a puppy and finding the few people who get intrigued by me as a puppy there. Somehow meeting people in person gives a much better feeling for chemistry than any app is able to do.

Do you currently have any handlers? How did you meet them?

I am, at the moment, living a very relationship anarchy style of life with multiple different people that I relate to in different ways. And this reflects quite a bit in my way as a puppy as well.

I would say that I am the official pup of my master, Master Djeno. We live in different countries and have only known each other for less than a year. But sometimes a good match in kinky play can bring out such beautiful and explorative dynamics quickly.

I simultaneously have a lesbian/bisexual muscle mommy who’s training me. She makes good use of my mouth and tongue as a puppy. She also uses my paws or other parts and makes me feel like a little fuck toy for her own fun.

I have as well a young Sir, who is quite new to kink, that I am teaching how to be a handler to me as well as teaching him hypnosis and Dominance. It’s quite a queer and fun dynamic as I am in the submissive position in relation to him while being the mentor/teacher. Sort of teaching the top from the bottom side.

I also have another play partner who I sometimes call my ”chewing toy”. I call him this because even though he himself often is the submissive bottom in our dynamic, he enjoys building up my primal hunter energy calling me ”good boy” while I am inside him which makes me wanna bite and eat him up completely. It makes our power dynamic quite fluid and hard to pin down.

I also have a close friendship with a playmate who I call my puppy brother. We rarely get to meet nowadays because he’s busy with recently becoming a proper father. But we bark at each other over the phone sometimes while talking about life.

How about a pack?

I also have quite recently been sort of adopted into a kind of ”hypno puppy pack”. A hypnotist friend of mine has gathered a small group of guys that all are into puppy play and hypnosis. We have a quite active group chat where we daily share stupid and kinky things that are happening in life, while also now and then dropping some gym selfies and hot hypno content on each other. We’re planning on meeting the whole pack later this year to mix hypno, kinky puppy play and DnD (Dungeons and Dragons) into a beautiful merge of these very niche skill trees that we have in common.

What exactly does a handler do and what makes a good handler in your opinion? 

Communication, communication, communication!

A good handler is able to listen and hold space for their pup. Holding space is about understanding what your pup’s desires and needs are and giving them the safety, security and framing to fully engage and indulge in those desires and needs.

To give an example. I often have a lot of things to handle and control in my daily life. I really enjoy going mindless and not having to think about anything but the present and the pleasurable sensations in my body. Another part of me also really enjoys following commands and being told what to do.

So for me a good handler would be someone who brings me into my puppy head space, (often called ”pup space”), allows me to be engaged in primal simple desires like biting, licking and snuggling, who orders me around and keeps track on me (with a leash or words), so I don’t hurt myself while staying in this state. It’s in one way quite simple. But still it demands that the handlers are able to face the very naked truth and honesty of the person in front of them, a person who is letting themselves completely go from ”common” social norms.

Conversely, what makes a good pup?

Trust, trust, trust!

A good pup for me, is able to fully engage into the puppy mindset, the ”pup space”. To be able to do that they need to be honest with themselves as well as with their handler.

The honesty towards the self needs to come from an intrinsic interest and curiosity towards their own desires as a sensorial living being. The honesty towards the handler is about being vulnerable enough to be seen at your most barest self in front of another person. To show your self and your desires without any ”normal” human social codes to hide behind.

Do some people switch roles?

Me, Me, Me!

I sometimes switch roles and take command as the handler for some pups. It's fun to switch it up sometimes and having a good eager pup in front of you is just such a nice energy to take care of.

I’ve also made a few stage shows for Stockholm Pride called ”Pupagiility”, where I’ve playfully demonstrated agility like tricks that you can do with pups as a handler during puppy play.

How do you go about navigating consent and safety in pup play? Do you use safe words?

When I play with some of my handlers, then we have established some simple pup woofs and sounds that I can use to answer and communicate while in pup mode. One woof for ”yes” and two woofs for ”no”. This allows them to ask questions if needed inside the play. Otherwise they usually speak and describe everything we will do and what my boundaries as a pup are at that moment. Am I allowed only on the carpet? Am I allowed to play freely? Should I do anything in particular with my mouth? Would I want to have a bit of spanking? This gives our play very clear framing while doing it, but it also gives me time to react in case something would feel off.

If I play with a new handler then I allow myself to quickly go in and out of my pup space so I can easier communicate about what feels good or not. I might go down on all fours and play a bit of tug-of-war with them ,and then I’ll quickly stand up and check with them how they’re doing and tell them if something felt off from my side.

But I know that I’ve become very good at mode switching from a lot of years of doing hypnosis. So for me it’s not a big trouble to quickly switch out of puppy mode and use my normal voice for safety words. But I know for some it takes a long while to get into the pup head space. And then there can be a bit of a bigger reluctance to exit that head space just to mention something, big or small.

If you meet a pup for the first time, it’s in general a bad practice to just randomly start petting them on their hood or scratching them behind the head without asking first. All play, even the most simple, should be preluded by some kind of tuning in on each other and what you both want.This is usually easiest done by first talking and asking questions about the kinky interests you have in common. The more you get to know each other, the less words you might need as body language can communicate a lot, as long as it’s done with a kind of humble listening and attention towards each other.

I know you came second in the Mister Fetish World competition. Firstly, congrats! How did that come about? 

Thank you! It was a crazy and fun adventure which went much further than I first had expected it to go.

 It all started a little over a year ago with me just having a bit of kinky hubris and curiosity. I saw that Darklands was hosting the Mr, Fetish World 2025 competition and thought that maybe I could mix up my third year coming to Darklands by trying out something different to get to know some new people. So I asked two puppy friends to help me film my application video for the competition. One of them works as a freelance professional photographer and was able to bring much better equipment than I ever could have thought I would get for this kind of thing. We spent a whole day having fun reading lines, changing outfits and getting tied up in front of the camera. 

After I sent in my application I got a call the same evening that I had been accepted into the competition. They said that they had loved my video and that they really wanted me to take part in the competition. So for the next few weeks I was running between meetings with the MFW team, planning outfits for the competition and making a kinky performance number to show. It all felt like I had signed up to a fetish version of RuPaul's Drag Race. It all had this energy of something very big and very new to me. 

What helped me was that I got such beautiful support from my local kinky community. A kinky couple, who are sort of my neighbours, helped make me new rubber details for an outfit. A boot blacker friend taught me how to prepare my leather and polish my boots and sneakers. Another friend Spot, who has a much much bigger platform and following in the kinky community than me, offered to make a big shoutout video with me for the competition. So when I finally was there in the competition I felt I had the support of a small kinky village from home. Then it was just so wonderful and humbling to be able to go so far in a big competition like that. Especially as it was my first time ever in any competition like that.

What other events with pup play spaces do you attend? Do you have a favorite?

If you are interested in pup play, then I can highly recommend going to Darklands in Antwerp, Belgium. That event is huge with thousands of kinksters and fetishists from all over the world coming to it. But every year we puppies take over that event more and more. So it’s a good place to dive right into the whole scene if you’d like that.

I’ve also been to Folsom in Berlin twice now and there I’ve also made some really nice puppy friends from across the world. They have a really cool event every year called the puppy games where people play sports and games together as puppies outside in a park. Also the puppy walk that makes a parade through the city is amazing. Like a never ending flood of puppies walking through the city of Berlin.

Do you have any advice for those looking to get into pup play and don’t know where to start? 

The best way to start would be to check if you have any local kink/fetish place that is organizing any puppy events in your area. Or an area close by. Because if you have that, then go to them. Meeting puppies live in person is one of the best ways to see if you would be interested in exploring more!

If you don’t have people close to you. Then explore chatting with some pups you can find online. Instagram has a lot of puppy accounts. But I find the app to be very kink-phobic and often ban accounts without much warning. So I am currently looking into where I could go instead. Thinking maybe about heading to Mastodon or another part of the federated social media. 

When traveling I also often find other local puppies through the Recon app. As that is one of the few apps targeting gay kinksters and fetishists. But puppies are becoming bigger and bigger as a thing in the gay community. Any hookup app can possibly work as long as you flag your interest for puppy play. Like I travel for work quite a bit and I pretty much always find another puppy or person interested in exploring puppy play to either chat or meet with wherever I go.

What gear is essential?

There is no essential gear! The best pup play tool is you and your play partner’s minds and bodies. And I really mean this! Learn how to have fun with nothing! Like my first encounter was really just a pair of socks rolled up into a small ball. It was all in how we were playing with them and each other that made it hot and interesting.

If I would have to choose one gear thing to help a beginner. Then that would be a puppy hood. The physical sensation of putting something over your face and having your world view physically changed like your visual gaze narrowed because of the hoods’ eyes and snout blocking some view. That can become a really fantastic anchor and entrance point in helping you get in the right pup mind space. Don’t underestimate the power of a hood or mask in helping you find a new side or personality inside yourself, especially after looking at yourself in the mirror with it on.

For safety and comfort I would say that knee pads are an excellent gear and tool to have. Especially if you expect to play on all four for a while. Also there’s a lot of other *fun* things that happen on your knees that knee pads can help you out with.

One of my favorite gear is a simple good leash and leather collar. There is just something so sexy in having given someone else control over you and showing that control to others by giving them the leash connected to your neck. Also it makes your mental connection to your handler transform into a physical one.

How does one go about getting involved with the pup community?

Talk and chat with other pups online and in person. As I said before. If you have the opportunity to go to local events where other pups will be at, then do that. That is the best way to meet new people that might share a super cool interest with you.

If talking with people seems scary, then you maybe can volunteer at any kink/fetish event/place to start meeting people through a more practical role.

If you don’t have any place close to you. Consider doing a trip to one of the kinky events or even pride events in bigger cities. As any big gathering of gay guys are bound to have at least a few puppies within them. You just need to offer the right kind of bone to lure them out.

Do you think there’s a lot of crossover between pup play and other kinks? Which are the most common?

Puppy play has its roots from the gay leather and fetish culture where it was a spin on the classic BDSM Master/slave dynamic. So most things related to BDSM and especially the D/s dynamic has often a quite natural fit to it. Common tools and gear like collars, leashes and big pup cages all relate to control and restraints, so the bondage kink is also a very natural kink in relation to it. I personally find hypnosis to be a great partner for it as it can really help with getting into the right puppy mindset and to fully commit to it.

I would say that pup play is a great entrance point to kinks in general for several people. The very friendly and lighthearted energy that a lot of puppies spread is possibly less intimidating for beginners, than maybe having their first time meeting with kink through a big dominant sadistic leather daddy with tons of whips and chains (even though that can be really hot as well).

I think pup play is a great first fit for anyone who wants to explore what kind of kinks that stirs an interest or pleasure inside themselves. The pup hood also gives a possibility for anonymity that often makes people feel more free in exploring themselves and trying out newly found kinks.

Wruff and lots of licks!
/ Pup Ami

You can follow Pup Ami on Mastodon and Instagram

Pup Play – Quick FAQ

What is pup play?

Pup play is a kink and form of roleplay where someone (“the pup”) explores a playful, primal headspace inspired by canine behavior. It can involve letting go of overthinking, engaging the senses, and expressing energy through play, affection, or obedience. For many, it’s about freedom, joy, and connection—both with themselves and others.

Do you need gear to start?

No. Gear is optional. Pup play can begin with nothing more than imagination and a willing partner—even a rolled-up pair of socks can become a toy. Some people enjoy using gear like a pup hood, collar, or leash because it can help them drop into pup headspace more easily, but none of it is required.

What does a handler do?

A handler guides and supports the pup. A good handler listens, communicates clearly, and creates a safe structure where the pup can relax into play. This might include giving commands, setting boundaries, offering praise, or simply keeping an eye on the pup’s safety and comfort.

Is pup play sexual or non-sexual?

It can be either—or both. Pup play may be completely playful and cuddly, or it can be erotic and kinky. Many people enjoy switching between non-sexual play and sexual dynamics depending on mood, partner, and context.

How do I join a pup community?

Start by connecting with others. Look for local kink or fetish events with pup spaces, or chat with pups online via social media or kink-friendly apps. Going to fetish events is a great introduction to kink for beginners in general. Meeting people in person at events or clubs is often the easiest way to find community, build confidence, and see if pup play is the right bone for you.

Featured image by istolethetvi from Flickr