Crossword Genius

Talks quietly to dogs slipping lead (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

powwows

'talks' is the definition.
(a powwow is a talk or discussion)

'quietly to dogs slipping lead' is the wordplay.
'quietly' becomes 'p' (p for piano and quiet).
'to dogs' becomes 'bowwows' (bow-wow is a kind of dog).
'slipping lead' means to remove the first letter (I've seen 'slips lead' mean this).
'bowwows' with its first letter taken away is 'owwows'.
'p'+'owwows'='POWWOWS'

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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