Having worked in the adult industry for a while, prior to my
arrival at my first IML, 2009, I thought I was pretty well versed
in the different circles that exist within the realm of what people
consider, well, the adult industry. Sadly I was mistaken and happily
my eyes were opened to whole other worlds. One evening, after working
at the booth all day with my boss and co-worker we were sitting
in the hotel room waiting, for what would not be explained to me.
My boss, Scott, announces excitedly that we’re going to Woof Camp.
Curiously I asked what it was and the usual questions of: What’s
there? What do we do? Etc.
As it was explained to me there would be “puppies” at Woof Camp
and I became excited; I love puppies! Common sense took over and
I began to question what kind of puppies we were talking about because
at this point in the trip I was already seeing things that I had
never seen before and some things I had never even heard of before.
With vague explanation the only answer I could get was “Puppies”.
I conceded my fight for knowledge and we left the room heading downstairs
to this “Woof Camp”.
I’ll
be honest, in entering the room I found myself a bit without
words and for me, that’s not a usual case. There were people,
men, on all fours running around playing as if they were dogs.
This would fall under the header of things I had never heard
of before. I had seen people wearing silver tags on chain collars
that were shaped like bones but without the current knowledge
was never able to attach the meaning of it to what I was seeing
now.
These were “puppies”. The three of us walked around seeing
the vet clinic off to the left, what looked like a large ring ahead
and to the right was a small pen built of chairs and rope queue’s.
Around us a crowd of mostly men, clad in leather, holding glasses
of their favourite drink and conversing as if this were an innocent
meeting in the park and nothing fell out of normalcy. Seeing one
particularly cute boy running around on all fours I commented to
Scott that he was adorable and was then encouraged to “pet” him.
I protested because while I've patted my friends on the head before
it was only to condescend to them and make them feel stupid, don't
worry they had it coming.
But petting a man as if he were actually
a dog was way too foreign an idea for me. I declined petting him.
After watching the "puppies" romp and play the camp was over
and the room began to clear out and a sort of a parade for puppies
began as they exited on all fours. Admittedly I regretted not petting
the pup. At that moment the adorable pup I had seen before was now
right next to me and with Scott's hand literally on mine moving
it down I began petting Zeus. Seeing him react the way he did, leaning
into my hand, just like a real puppy would, lit something inside
of me! As we walked out the door and into the hallway I saw another
pup go from all fours to standing on his human legs and again the
questions poured out of me.
A change happened when I pet Zeus and I started to realize something
that had been there all along. When I was little and playing house,
I was never the father or the son; I was always the puppy. I somehow
learned to develop a way to run on the palms of my hands and the
balls of my feet when I was younger too (This has since made me
faster than every pup I've met since). Watching that other gorgeous
pup (Named Chomper) stand up erect I instinctively asked
why he was standing on his hind legs and not “Why did he stand?”
And the fire inside grew hotter. The night progressed with explanations of as much knowledge as
Scott could give me on puppies. The next day while working at the
booth I took a break and searched out to find a collar and leash,
to price them at least. I found what I was looking for but couldn’t
afford it. Scott went and, being of the old Leather Guard, bought
me my very first leather collar and leather leash and presented
it to me. I immediately had him help me put the collar on and wore
it proudly! That night I met another pup and for the first time
ever romped. We created a stir in the lobby of the host hotel and
had hundreds of people coming by to watch the puppies. We wrestled,
we played tug of war, fetch, had some training by onlookers who
knew what they were doing and people concerned that we were okay;
bringing us water, checking in on us. And I became a new man; a
pup.
A part of Elliot became Fender at IML 2009 and I have since worn
my steel chain collar with bone tag proudly.
I’ve attended as many pup events as I can find and for those wear
my “Show” collar—the collar that Scott had bought for me at IML.
I belong to the K9 Unit, a local group of pups, handlers and Sirs.
I have an Alpha pup named Spike and maybe one day I’ll have a Sir
to take care of me. At my desk at work sits a steel water dish and
two dog toys that were bought, with love, by my co-workers.
I am the type of pup who never leaves the puppy headspace but knows
when it’s time to be human again. Walking down the street, though,
if I’m barked at by someone noticing my collar and understanding
its meaning I’ll bark back; proudly. And hot boys get a deep, gruff
“WOOF” as they pass.
- Credits
- Phote 1 - Fender in a...hmmm.... adult shop (provided by Fender)
- Photo 2 - woofy pup (provided by Fender)
- Photo 3 - Fender at Folsom 2009 ( provided by Mr. Munter, SFDom@Earthlink.net)
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