Dog near mess sounded unhappy (7)

I believe the answer is:

groaned

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'sounded unhappy' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.

'dog near mess' is the wordplay.
'mess' indicates anagramming the letters.
'dog'+'near'='dognear'
'dognear' with letters rearranged gives 'GROANED'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for groaned that I've seen before include "Indicated pain, discomfort, or displeasure" , "Indicate pain" , "Made despairing sound" , "Sighed in exasperation" .)

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