Friendly in a doggy way? (5)

I believe the answer is:

pally

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

'friendly' is the definition.
(pally means friendly)

'in a doggy way?' is the wordplay.
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'a doggy' becomes 'paly' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'way?' becomes 'L' (abbreviation for left).
'paly' enclosing 'l' is 'PALLY'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for pally that I've seen before include "On friendly terms" , "Close, friendly" , "Intimate" , "Thick" , "Chummy" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.

Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.