Take a risk, putting the animal in with the dog (6)
I believe the answer is:
basset
'the dog' is the definition.
(type of dog)
'take a risk putting the animal in' is the wordplay.
'take a risk' becomes 'bet'.
'putting the animal' becomes 'ass' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'bet' placed around 'ass' is 'BASSET'.
'with' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for basset that I've seen before include "GAME" , "Short-legged dog" , "Smooth-haired, long-eared hound" , "Low-set hound" , "Type of hound" .)