Wood like dog's brought back (5)
I believe the answer is:
balsa
'wood' is the definition.
(type of wood)
'like dog's brought back' is the wordplay.
'like' becomes 'as'.
'dog' becomes 'lab' (short for labrador).
'brought back' says the letters should be written backwards.
'as'+'lab'='aslab'
'aslab' written backwards gives 'BALSA'.
(Other definitions for balsa that I've seen before include "wood for raft" , "Central American forest tree used to make floats, rafts, models etc" , "A slab (anag.)" , "Very light wood in a slab" , "Raft-making S American corkwood" .)