Praise doggedly applied to a worthy son? (4,3)

I believe the answer is:

good boy

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

'praise doggedly' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I can't tell whether this works.

'applied to a worthy son?' is the wordplay.
'applied to' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'a worthy' becomes 'good' (I've seen this before).
'son?' becomes 'boy' (synonyms).
'good' put next to 'boy' is 'GOOD BOY'.

Can you help me to learn more?

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.