Pressure was frightening, felt by dog? (5)
I believe the answer is:
pawed
'felt by dog?' is the definition.
(a dog feels with its paws)
'pressure was frightening' is the wordplay.
'pressure' becomes 'p' (abbreviation).
'was frightening' becomes 'awed' (to awe someone is to scare them).
'p'+'awed'='PAWED'
(Other definitions for pawed that I've seen before include "Roughly handled" , "Manhandled" .)