Pup

A gay man into pup play, a kink in which an adult man takes on the role of a playful, loyal dog, often with a hood, a collar and a handler.

A pup is a gay man who takes part in pup play, a kink in which he takes on the role of a dog: playful, loyal, eager, sometimes a little wild. Pups are adult men, and pup play has nothing to do with youth: the word is about the role, not the age. A pup might be 22 or 55, and many are big, bearded and very grown-up the rest of the week.

The look is easy to spot at a fetish night: a neoprene or leather hood shaped like a dog's head, a collar, maybe knee pads and mitts shaped like paws, and often a tail. But pup play is not just a costume. The point is the headspace: dropping words, worries and the adult self for a while and simply being a pup, wrestling, playing, chasing a ball, curling up at someone's feet.

Where it comes from

Pup play grew out of the gay leather and BDSM scene, as one of its many forms of role play, and over time it became a community of its own, with its own gear, events and contests. When researchers first studied it, in a 2015 paper in Archives of Sexual Behavior based on interviews with 30 gay and bisexual men, they called it "a new kink activity".

That study found that pup play mostly means mimicking dog behaviors and taking on a dog's role, that it is used both for sex and for relaxation, through the pup "headspace", and that there is no evidence it should be confused with zoophilia. It has nothing to do with real animals, and pups are quick to say so.

Pups, handlers and packs

• A handler is the man who looks after a pup, sets the rules and plays the dominant role. He is often a leather daddy type, though not always.
• A pack is a group of pups, sometimes with an alpha, who socialize and play together.
• A mosh is a pup play session at an event, a free-for-all of pups playing on mats.
• Pups also have pup names, which they use in the scene and often on their social media.

Not just about sex

For some men pup play is clearly sexual, part of their BDSM and of their relationship with a handler. For many others it is mostly social and playful, a way to switch off and be affectionate without words. The scene overlaps with rubber, since much of the gear is neoprene or latex, and with leather bar culture, which gave it its first home.

Related terms