Very fond of the box with the animal on the outside (6)
I believe the answer is:
doting
'very fond' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'box with the animal on the outside' is the wordplay.
'box with' becomes 'tin' (I've seen this in other clues. I am not sure about the 'with' bit.).
'the animal' becomes 'dog' (type of animal).
'on the outside' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'tin' placed within 'dog' is 'DOTING'.
'of the' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for doting that I've seen before include "Showing great fondness as for a spouse" , "Worshipping" , "Overly fond of, say spouse" , "Showing excessive fondness" , "Excessively fond" .)