Lively tot in pen in rural dwelling (7)
I believe the answer is:
cottage
'rural dwelling' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'lively tot in pen' is the wordplay.
'lively' indicates anagramming the letters (I've seen this in other clues).
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'pen' becomes 'cage' (I've seen this before).
'tot' is an anagram of 'ott'.
'ott' placed inside 'cage' is 'COTTAGE'.
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for cottage that I've seen before include "Cheese pie industries all may chase this" , "Small one-storied house" , "Small house with a single storey" , "Small place" , "Small single-storey dwelling" .)