A way to feed ticks off dogs (8)
I believe the answer is:
mastiffs
'dogs' is the definition.
(mastiff is a kind of dog)
'a way to feed ticks off' is the wordplay.
'way' becomes 'st'.
'to feed' is an insertion indicator.
'ticks off' becomes 'miffs' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'a'+'st'='ast'
'ast' put into 'miffs' is 'MASTIFFS'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for mastiffs that I've seen before include "Powerful deep-chested dogs" , "man's best friends?" .)