The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 7 letter word CANINES
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
C
A
N
I
N
E
S
More clues leading to the result CANINES
- Champers around breakfast time? Then start on sherry
- Dogs one brought into film festival location
- Med resort hosts international for Wolves, maybe
- Publican in Essex keeps dogs
- Dogs inside – sticks outside
- Beasts? A number will be found in Civil Service
- Some teeth can shine without hard cleaning
- Sack best core boxers, for example
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "dogs" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case dogs = canines.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 CANINES mean?
CANINES noun- Any member of Caninae, the only living subfamily of Canidae.
- Any of certain extant canids regarded as similar to the dog or wolf (including coyotes, jackals, etc.) but distinguished from the vulpines, which are regarded as fox-like.
- In heterodont mammals, the pointy tooth between the incisors and the premolars; a cuspid.
- A king and a nine as a starting hand in Texas hold 'em due to phonetic similarity.