Crossword Genius

Mother has stubborn dog (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

mastiff

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

'dog' is the definition.
(mastiff is a kind of dog)

'mother has stubborn' is the wordplay.
'mother' becomes 'ma' (Ma is another word for mother or mum).
'has' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'stubborn' becomes 'stiff' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'ma'+'stiff'='MASTIFF'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for mastiff that I've seen before include "Large short-haired dog breed" , "Powerful breed of watchdog" , "Large, powerful, short-haired dog" , "Hound" , "one of his best friends?" .)

I've seen this clue in The Globe and Mail.
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.