Rows about stray dogs (8)
I believe the answer is:
terriers
'dogs' is the definition.
(terrier is a kind of dog)
'rows about stray' is the wordplay.
'rows' becomes 'tiers' (tier is a kind of row).
'about' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'stray' becomes 'err' ('err' can be a synonym of 'stray').
'tiers' going around 'err' is 'TERRIERS'.
(Other definitions for terriers that I've seen before include "eg Skye, Cairn and 18" , "Part-time soldiers" , "Small short-bodied breeds of dogs" , "Airedales, for example" .)