Keepers put dogs around a hill (8)
I believe the answer is:
curators
'keepers' is the definition.
(curator is a kind of keeper)
'dogs around a hill' is the wordplay.
'dogs' becomes 'curs' (cur can mean a violent dog).
'around' is an insertion indicator.
'hill' becomes 'tor' (tor is a kind of hill).
'a'+'tor'='ator'
'curs' placed around 'ator' is 'CURATORS'.
'put' is the link.
(Other definitions for curators that I've seen before include "Custodians of collections" , "Those in charge of museums or other collections" .)