It has a doggy dale (4)
I believe the answer is:
aire
'doggy dale' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.
'it has a' is the wordplay.
'it' becomes 'ire' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'has' says to put letters next to each other.
'ire' put after 'a' is 'AIRE'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for aire that I've seen before include "Northern English river, tributary of the Ouse" , "Major river of Yorkshire" , "Terrier -- Yorkshire area" , "flower of Yorkshire" , "River running through Leeds" .)