Whenever you’re looking for something to spice up your sex life, roleplay is always a great option. There are tons of different kinds of roleplay to choose from, so you’re almost certain to find something that interests you!
One kind of roleplay which is particularly popular is animal roleplay. This is where one or both participants take on the role of an animal, which creates an entirely different dynamic in the bedroom.
Whether it’s just a one off fantasy, or something you’d like to enjoy on a more permanent basis, animal roleplay can be truly exciting. If you’re not sure where to start, then read on, as we take you through everything a beginner needs to know to start enjoying sex on the wild side!
Non-Sexual Animal Roleplay
One of the first things we should point out, is that not all roleplay needs to be sexual. Even if you’re using some of the accessories found on sex toy websites, your roleplay experience can be completely tame and innocent.
We can see non-sexual roleplay throughout many different parts of our lives. Most commonly, in children. Almost all kids enjoy playing games where they pretend to be spacemen, firefighters, or even animals!
Most of us will lose this sense of wonder and adventure as we get older, but trying out some animal roleplay can be a great way to recapture our lost youth.
Even though things like roleplay get left by the wayside in much of the western world, there are still many cultures which enjoy incorporating animal roleplay into their everyday life. This is often present in some of the tribal cultures of native Americans or parts of Africa. Members of the tribe will take on physical or spiritual interpretations of animals they revere, or even those they are trying to hunt!
Roleplay Fetishes
While many adults will no longer enjoy roleplay as a part of their everyday lives, we often decide to explore it in the bedroom. These activities are often referred to as roleplay fetishes, as they give the participants some kind of sexual satisfaction.
We’re all exposed to this phenomenon at a young age, taking part in school shows, talent contests, or even just playing with dolls.
But as we become older, roleplay can become much more advanced, and be involved in many different aspects of our lives. Many people will have a work-persona, home-persona, friend-persona, and many more. Importantly, we all tend to have a bedroom-persona, which controls what we enjoy doing during sex.
By stepping out of this bedroom-persona and taking on another role entirely, our sex lives can be completely shaken up.
A roleplay fetish is very simply when someone has a particular sexual attraction to a particular kind of roleplay. It just really turns them on. Whether it’s doctors and nurses, people in uniform, or even pretending to be the opposite sex, nothing is off limits with roleplay.
Animal Roleplay Fetishes
An animal roleplay fetish is a little more delicate, as it’s starting to delve into sexual attractions that aren’t as common or viewed as nicely by society.
Obviously simply having sex with animals is largely illegal, and that crosses the boundary from fetish to simple sexual attraction. However roleplaying as animals creates a very different dynamic, and there are many different reasons people can enjoy it.
At its most basic form, animal roleplay allows you to explore characteristics and behaviours that you wouldn’t normally display. The playfulness of a puppy, the curiosity of a kitten, or even the grace of a swan are all characteristics that might be fun to embody in the bedroom. Even scratching like an animal can get people in the mood!
Once you get past this basic embodiment of characteristics though, animal roleplay fetishes can take you to some unusual and very different places.
Pet Play Fetishes
Petplay is one of the most common kinds of animal roleplay fetish, and is enjoyed by people all over the world. This kind of roleplay tends to be much more formal, sometimes even including contracts which detail the behaviours of each participant.
The core concept of pet play is that rather than taking on the role of an animal, you are specifically taking on the role of someone’s pet. This means that one partner will take on a dominant role, being the pet’s owner or master, while the person playing the role of the pet becomes the submissive. As a result, petplay is considered a subsection of BDSM.
Many of these relationships will start out with a contract, laying out the exact details of the roleplay. These often include how long the roleplay will be for, anything either person is uncomfortable doing, what the pet will do while they roleplay, and any expectations the master has along with relevant punishments.
Most contracts will also include a safe word, which is very important. The safe word should be something unusual which you aren’t likely to say during your roleplay. If either partner says the safe word, then the roleplay ends immediately, no questions asked.
This means that if anything becomes too much or one partner gets a bit carried away, there is always a clear way to say: “this is too much, let’s take a break”.
Deciding the details of your scene and contract can take some time, and should be treated as a negotiation, with both partners involved, rather than one just dictating what is going to happen.
Once all that’s out of the way though, you’re free to enjoy life as a pet or owner! This can be very rewarding for both parties, as it can bring out a level of intimacy that you hadn’t felt before. It can also be very freeing for the pet, as they are able to completely relax and explore their new mindset (sometimes called headspace), without worrying about human concerns like bills or cleaning.
Your experience doesn’t end there though. While embracing the freeing role of a pet, you often leave yourself very vulnerable. When the roleplay ends, this vulnerability can still be present, so it’s important to take some time to cool off.
This is usually referred to as aftercare, and everyone can do it differently. The most important thing is to just take the time necessary to let things return to normal and work through any issues that may have arisen during the roleplay.
Animal Transformation Roleplay
An animal transformation fetish is quite different to other forms of animal roleplay, because rather than taking on the role of an animal, the participants are instead transformed into the animals of their choosing.
This is often accompanied by elaborate scenes where participants might be bitten or infected by an animal, and gradually begin to transform and become more and more animalistic. Often these transformations don’t turn people completely into an animal, but instead a human-like hybrid such as werewolves or vampires.
As the real fetish here is the transformation, it’s uncommon for these kinds of role play situations to last a very long time, as once the transformation has taken place there is little else to explore. Sometimes though, the transformation will not be voluntary, and participants might fight against it, adding a new dynamic to the experience.
Exploring this kind of fetish in the bedroom is difficult, and can be hard to make convincing without significant set up and planning. Simply acting out the scenarios can work, but in order to see the true effect you’ll likely want to use some props and costumes.
The real place an animal transformation fetish can shine though is in creative works. Many people enjoy writing and reading comics, books and short stories about characters who undergo these kinds of transformations.
Most commonly, animal transformation will explore werewolves, cat-human hybrids, or even characters from your favourite shows or movies. Sometimes the dominant partner will be someone who already knew the person before their transformation, and sometimes the dominant partner will be the person causing the transformation, almost Frankenstein-esque.
Of course, these works of fiction tend to be on the raunchy side, so if you think animal transformation might be something that turns you on the check out some comics or stories you can find online and see what you think!
Furry Fetishes
While some other kinds of animal roleplay are a bit more unknown and mysterious, many of us will have heard the term furries before. Unfortunately, this term is often used in a derogatory sense, but it is, in fact, just another kind of fetish.
What exactly is a furry? Well they are quite simply a person who strongly identifies as a particular kind of animal. This animal will often have human characteristics, or be part-human, part-animal.
Generally, enjoying a furry fetish doesn’t necessarily mean anything will change in your sex life, and many furries enjoy complete tame and standard sex lives. Some furries might also take part in other forms of animal roleplay, but the key difference is that the person identifies with the animal, rather than just trying to play the role of it.
The primary goal of most furries is to adopt a “fursona”. These are reflections of their own personalities which incorporate the traits they identify with from the animal. Often these characters become cartoonised versions of a human or animal.
Many furries simply enjoy the lifestyle, as opposed to spending their entire time in their “fursona”. They visit conventions, and make friends with others who have the same fetish. This lets them enjoy their furry personality to the fullest.
Animal Roleplay, BDSM and Bondage
Generally, people who find animal roleplay interesting or enjoyable will be much more open to other sexual experiences. Due to this, animal roleplay scenarios can frequently involve elements from BDSM or even bondage!
Beyond the simple elements of dominance and submission demonstrated in a petplay relationship, you can enjoy all kinds of fun.
Common examples might include those who find sadism and masochism enjoyable, as these people might want to punish their pet for misbehaving. These punishments can be severe, involving whips, spanking, or even electro-stimulation.
Similarly, roleplayers can enjoy utilising specific styles of bondage to restrict the movement of the “animal”. Perhaps the most common way this is done is by tying the lower legs up, so that the pet is forced to move around on their hands and knees.
You can even take this further with sexual devices like humblers, which attach to the ankles and genitals of the pet. If they try and stand up, the device will pull painfully on the genitals, which forces them to always stay in an animalistic position.
However far you want to take your animal roleplay, and whichever elements you want to explore, we always emphasise that you take appropriate care. The key phrase used in most communities is safe, sane and consensual. Only do things which aren’t going to hurt you, and that you actually want to do.
If you keep this in mind though, there’s no limit to the freedom and pleasure you can take from animal roleplay, whether it’s sexual or not!