The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word STROP
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
S
T
R
O
P
More clues leading to the result STROP
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Pet/that barber keeps" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case pet/that barber keeps = strop.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.
What does STROP mean?
STROP noun- A strap; more specifically a piece of leather or a substitute (notably canvas), or strip of wood covered with a suitable material, for honing a razor, in this sense also called razor strop.
- A bad mood or temper (see stroppy.)
- A piece of rope spliced into a circular wreath, and put round a block for hanging it.
- To strap.
- (recorded since 1842; now most used) To hone (a razor) with a strop.
- To mark a sequence of letters syntactically as having a special property, such as being a keyword, e.g. by enclosing in apostrophes as in 'foo' or writing in uppercase as in FOO.
- A poor-quality or unsaleable diamond.