Animal with hot dog, e.g., - he's excited (8)
I believe the answer is:
hedgehog
'animal' is the definition.
(hedgehog is a kind of animal)
'hot dog e g he's excited' is the wordplay.
'hot' becomes 'h' (abbreviation eg on taps).
'excited' is an anagram indicator.
'dog'+'e'+'g'+'he'='dogeghe'
'dogeghe' is an anagram of 'edgehog'.
'h'+'edgehog'='HEDGEHOG'
'with' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for hedgehog that I've seen before include "Prickly rodent" , "Prickly garden animal" , "Nocturnal insectivore" , "Prickly creature" , "Spiny animal" .)