Small white ball next to a large canine (6)
I believe the answer is:
jackal
'canine' is the definition.
(I know that jackal is a type of canine)
'small white ball next to a large' is the wordplay.
'small white ball' becomes 'jack' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'next to' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'large' becomes 'L' (eg in clothes sizes).
'jack'+'a'+'l'='JACKAL'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for jackal that I've seen before include "Slender wild dog" , "dog, kind of" , "A predatory carnivorous dog-like animal" , "Nocturnal mammal closely related to the dog" , "Dog-like African and Asian predator" .)