Alert except when bushy-tailed (6)

I believe the answer is:

notify

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'alert' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'except when bushy-tailed' is the wordplay.
'except' becomes 'not' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'when' becomes 'if'.
'tailed' says to take the final letters.
The final letter of 'bushy' is 'y'.
'not'+'if'+'y'='NOTIFY'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for notify that I've seen before include "Officially inform" , "alert" , "'Advise, tell about (6)'" , "No one" , "Formally tell" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.

Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.