He’s more than just a pup with a sash. Meet Matt, the newly crowned Mr. Puppy Europe. In this champion’s interview, he talks about the amazing diversity of pup play, its power as a “bridge-building fetish” that acts as an entry point to the wider kink world, and his mission to be a welcoming community advocate.
MasterMarc: Woof woof Matt, congratulations! You’re the new MR. PUPPY EUROPE 2018. How does it feel and what does it mean to you to be a continental title holder?
Matt: Wruff ! I feel very proud to have been elected Mister Puppy Europe, being Farex’s successor and have been elected among awesome pups such as Teck, Buumi, Hero, Nox, Zaush, Makker and Hack is really a great honor and put me a bit of pressure to be a good titleholder this.
Being a continental titleholder means for me to continue what I started as Mister Puppy France: Create friendship with other pups by trying to travel as often as I can to support positive initiatives about pup play and events. It’s also teaching people about what pup play is, being a community advocate.
Even if titles can sometimes intimidate, we are just pups with a sash.
MasterMarc: It seems it will be a busy time for you but I hope it will also be a lot of fun. So tell us, what are in your eyes the basic essentials of pup play?
Matt: The first word who come in my mind when I talk about pup play is «Diversity», there are many ways to play as a dog or as a pup, some pups are more attracted by the pup gear things, others are more into roleplay, others are into sexual, others into social only, so there’s a lot of shades in the ways to play.
MasterMarc: What are you into?
Matt: My practices evolved a lot, I started by practicing soft puppy play during one year with an handler, it was not sexual, just roleplay, I was the dog of his house. I left my handler and I started to discover BDSM, as a human, and quietly later I started also to play sometimes as a pup with bdsm. I rarely list all my practices, as it really depend on the feeling with the person I play with. I adapt to the situation and I like to experiment new things: if it’s not dangerous for me or my partner(s), if it don’t disgust me, I can try it.
To give some clues about my practices, Blue, red, yellow, black and … orange are some colors I like.
MasterMarc: Don’t tell me that you are into black or I have to import you to Switzerland. 🙂 A real interesting aspect of pup play is that is a bridge building fetish, as you see leather, rubber, sports, neoprene, etc. dogs everywhere. Why do you think that pup play has become so popular and how do you see this bridge building aspect of pup play?
Matt: For me, pup play is popular because it’s diverse, many people can find their way to play as pup. As you say, as you can be a rubber/sport/leather/…/naked pup, puppy play is an awsome entry point in the fetish. I started as a naked pup, then I had a tail, then I had a hood, then I discovered rubber, then I discovered leather … By started pup play, even naked, I became a multi fetish guy/pup.
Well, as pup play is diverse and can be an entry point to other fetishisms of course it create easily links with other communities. In my case, as I’am rubber addict I feel pretty close from the rubber community. I also really appreciate the furry aesthetic and even if I don’t know very well the fandom, that’s a community I’d like to create links with.
MasterMarc: Why have you become a candidate for Mr. Puppy France? What was your motivation?
Matt: I was candidate for Mister puppy France election mostly for fun, and as an opportunity to meet new people. That’s during the first months as mister puppy France I realised what involve the title.
MasterMarc: Fun, that is an important thing in the pup community. It was great for example to see all the pups playing around in the K9 camp @ Darklands. They have been playful and enjoying the ball bath and the other playgrounds. But at the same time the judges looked very serious with their clipboard under their arm. That was a little bit strange for me, it wasn’t as playful as the pet fetish is. How do you see it?
Matt: Well, that’s true, our judges were concentrated on the candidate pack. They looked very serious that’s true, but they were always happy to give us scratches when we came to interact with them. Being judge in a contest is not so easy, as you have few time to make your advice about candidates, so I totally can understand they looked with attention how we puped.
MasterMarc: That is really a good question: How to judge pups? For the audience the judgement was a black box. But I think that would be a question for a judge and not for the winner. Hope you have had a great party to celebrate your new title.
Matt: Well, I organized a pups and friends drink to celebrate my new title. It was social, organized in a soft fetish bar in Paris : La Mine. We were ~20 pups/handlers/pet players and it was really a great opportunity to thanks everyone for their support.
MasterMarc: It was really great to see, that you have had a lot of fans in Antwerp. Please tell us about your plans for your year as European titleholder.
Matt: My plans are to continue to travel as often as I can to support pups events and initiatives. Next travels are at the moment : Canada next week and Easter BLF in Berlin at the end of the month. I also plan to create a puppy play community website in French and English, but it will take a bit of time as translate in 2 languages take a lot of time.
MasterMarc: That sounds like a lot of work but also fun. How do you think that you can encourage other pups and boys who want to become pups? What is your message you want to send to them?
Matt: I think, testify and explain what puppy play is, is really important to help people to jump in. My message or those who wants to start puppy play is : come talk with pups, come to events, don’t think «I don’t know the rules, I don’t know anyone» puppy play communities are usually very welcoming, so come and talk with people. Also, don’t hesitate to talk to misters puppys, it’s I think a part of the job, to guide and answer questions. Even if titles can sometimes intimidate, we are just pups with a sash.
