American dog causes irritation (8)
I believe the answer is:
nuisance
'irritation' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
I can't explain the rest of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for nuisance that I've seen before include "Source of annoyance or aggravation" , "Irritant or botheration" , "Pest, source of annoyance" , "Pest, pain in the neck" , "Something which annoys" .)