Republican with old dog almost getting award (7)
I believe the answer is:
rosette
'award' is the definition.
(type of award or prize)
'republican with old dog almost' is the wordplay.
'republican' becomes 'R' (abbreviation in US politics).
'with old' becomes 'o' (common abbreviation eg in OE for Old English. I am not sure about the 'with' bit.).
'dog' becomes 'setter' (setter is a type of dog).
'almost' means to remove the last letter (most of the word but not all of it).
'setter' with its final letter taken off is 'sette'.
'r'+'o'+'sette'='ROSETTE'
'getting' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for rosette that I've seen before include "decoration showing support for party" , "sign of support for party" , "Decoration made of ribbons" , "Equestrian prize" , "Colourful decoration worn by supporters" .)