Crossword Genius

Deal with it harshly being dogged (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

tailed

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

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

'deal with it harshly' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'it' could be 't' (abbreviation. e.g. in 'tis) and 't' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'ailed' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for tailed that I've seen before include "Dogged" , "Followed, tracked" , "Secretly followed" , "Followed like rear appendage" , "Followed informally in detail" .)

I've seen this clue in The Sun.
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