Avoid team with animals climbing (8)
I believe the answer is:
sidestep
'avoid' is the definition.
(I know that sidestep is a more specific form of the action avoid)
'team with animals climbing' is the wordplay.
'team with' becomes 'side' (both can mean a sports team. I am not sure about the 'with' bit.).
'animals' becomes 'pets' (pet is a kind of animal).
'climbing' says the letters should be written in reverse (in a down clue, letters climb up).
'pets' back-to-front is 'step'.
'side'+'step'='SIDESTEP'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for sidestep that I've seen before include "Shift to right or left" , "Find a way round" , "Dodge - circumvent" , "To avoid" , "Dodge (an issue?)" .)