Crossword Genius

Dog mess on chain (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

pooch

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'dog' is the definition.
(pooch is a kind of dog)

'mess on chain' is the wordplay.
'mess' becomes 'poo' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'on' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'chain' becomes 'ch' (I've seen this in other clues).
'poo'+'ch'='POOCH'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for pooch that I've seen before include "one of our best friends" , "Doggy" , "Dog (colloq.)" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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