The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 plus 2 plus 4 plus 2 plus 3 letter word LOVE ME LOVE MY DOG
I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
L
O
V
E
M
E
L
O
V
E
M
Y
D
O
G
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Demand for total affection" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case demand for total affection = love me love my dog.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.