Dogging is for the most part an activity that involves outdoor exhibitionism in car-parks, wooded areas and the like. The term dogging originated in the early Seventies to describe people who spied on couples having sex outdoors.

These voyeurs would 'dog' the couples' every move in an effort to see the action. When the swinging scene discovered that open-air sex has its own special thrill they began meeting in car-parks, and the doggers found a new and rich supply of voyeuristic fun.

Moreover, the doggers soon realised that these couples were actively encouraging them to watch, even performing for them, and sometimes allowing them to join in.

It is believed to have come from the idea of being in a secluded place outdoors having sex, maybe in a car park for instance, and having a bystander perhaps out innocently 'walking the dog' stumble across you, hence the term 'dogging'.

People who partake in dogging are often known as 'Doggers' and whilst not originally connected to the swinging scene as a whole dogging is now often perceived as a variant or subdivision of the swinging community.

Dogging initially suffered from the antiquated stigma that used to be thrown on swingers, but which in the case of the swinging scene seems to have dwindled. Some excellent television programmes focusing on the lifestyle scene and dogging in a very positive way and this has changed the general perception of this kind of activity. Long gone are the days of the gutter press expose type articles which used to just be there for titillation, and its about time too.

Dogging is only suffering from this same ill informed stigma because people are accused of having sex in public places in front of innocent bystanders and kids in playing areas of parks and the like, when actually nothing could be further from the truth.

Doggers tend to be local to the outdoor areas that they use for their fun and as such respect the parks, car parks and other dogging venues completely, usually taking home the litter of condoms and the like with them or at the very least disposing of them in bins properly, something which ironically isn't always the case of people walking the dog!

But what does dogging involve and how does and evening of outdoor sex usually flow. Well most commonly a couple or multiples of couples tend to be the centre of attention with a group of single guys surrounding them. Like swinging, there are varying degrees of involvement to dogging because there are those couples who just enjoy the voyeuristic attention of people watching them have sex, whilst others actually ask for people to actively participate in the evenings goings on, either with simple touching right up to full blown sex.

Proceedings normally start with a couple arriving in the car park nearly always late at night so as not to be a nuisance to 'innocents'. The fun will usually then starts in one of two ways, either passively where the couple gets down to having sex and other couples and single guys work out what is going on without being formally invited to come an watch, or the other common way is to flash the car headlights (or the courtesy light inside the car) a few times to draw attention to the fact that they are seeking for viewers for the soon to start free sex show.

No two evenings will be the same, but the people who are involved in dogging are generally just like you and us, average normal decent human beings who want to inject a little excitement into their lives.

If you are looking to get involved visit one of the more well known dogging locations around the country where there will be a number of people there, daunting though it may be for the new comer, at least the old 'safety in numbers' thing applies. If there are a few idiots who are disrupting things then a threat of stopping and going home will usually induce the decent majority to persuade the troublemaker to cut it out.

A definite 'No-No' is to announce publicly via a web site or similar that you are going to be putting on a show somewhere and then giving the details of the location, this is a sure way to get all sorts of undesirables turn up and maybe even the local constabulary. Instead a far better solution to arranging the meeting is to publish the fact that you are looking for voyeurs for the evening, but then leaving a disposable e-mail address (maybe a hotmail one or similar) where people can contact you to find out more information.

Dogging in this way gives you the ability to vet those coming along prior to the meeting, making it much safer for all involved, you can ask for photos and control the numbers of people involved. Another good idea if you are a couple is to invite another one or two couples along to share the attention, especially if you are letting the voyeurs join in. This is helpful as it won't be long before you are knackered and you will probably need another focus for the attention while you get your strength back for round two.

Dogging can be an exciting and rewarding experience for all involved, but just make sure you follow the basics carefully and most of all respect the venue and your health, use condoms and take them home with you and you'll live to play another evening or two or three without getting locals annoyed. Lets face it people have been having outdoor sex for thousands of years so there's no need for it to stop now, just be respectful.