Draughts created as the dog tears by (8)
I believe the answer is:
currents
'draughts' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'the dog tears by' is the wordplay.
'the dog' becomes 'cur' (both can mean a despicable person).
'tears' becomes 'rents' ('rent' can be a synonym of 'tear').
'by' says to put letters next to each other.
'cur'+'rents'='CURRENTS'
'created as' acts as a link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for currents that I've seen before include "Flows of electricity or water" , "'Flows, of electricity say (8)'" , "Flows, of water say" , "Flows, streams" , "Water flows beneath the surface of sea or lake - swimmers beware" .)