HOT DOG : SINGING TALENT TAKES CANINE ON TRIP TO NEW YORK CITY, WHERE COMPETITION IS FIERCE AND REPORTERS ARE RELENTLESS.

Byline: Carol Bidwell Daily News Staff Writer

The crooner, impeccable in black and white, required no rehearsal. He faced his audience with nonchalance, waited for his accompanist's downbeat, gazed soulfully skyward and launched into a mournful ballad.

``Rrrrrrrrrrrrrooooooo.''

``Oooaaaaaoooooaaaaa.''

``Rarararararar.''

Thank ya, thank ya vury much, Dan the Doggone Dog seemed to say with a swish of his tail as his master, photographer/musician Gary McCarthy, plunk-a-plunked the last notes of ``Little Itchy Spot,'' the song the two had hoped would catapult Dan into celebrity dogdom.

But Dan, doggone it, failed to be chosen top dog Sept. 10 in a New York City competition to select America's Best Singing Pet. Along with seven other caroling canines and a caterwauling cat, Dan was an also-ran behind Regal the Beagle from Cleveland, who took top honors by crooning his own version of Dean Martin's hit ``That's Amore.''

Regal's photo will appear on posters and in print ads for Advantage Flea Adulticide, a flea-killing treatment for pets; the company sponsored both the New York sing-off and the Griffith Park contest last May at which Dan was judged the best singing dog in Los Angeles.

``It really doesn't matter that we didn't win,'' McCarthy said as Dan, a black-and-white border collie/Great Dane mix, trotted around the back yard of the family's Altadena home. ``We got to go to New York, got to put on a show, got to ride around in a limousine. It was fun. I think Dan had fun, too.''

The laid-back canine's journey to the bright lights of New York is truly a rags-to-riches story. He was discovered six years ago by a former roommate of McCarthy's, who found the dog chained in the dusty Nevada desert outside the home of a family who fed him sparingly and never offered him any affection. He was just a year old, maybe a bit more.

``She said, `I think I know somebody who would love this dog,' and she brought him home,'' McCarthy said. ``He's been with me ever since.''

The discovery that Dan has musical talent came a few years ago. McCarthy and his wife, Sandy Pellegrin, were camping with friends at Lake Isabella when McCarthy brought out his guitar and the group started singing around the campfire.

``Rrrrrrrrrooooooowwwwwwww.''

The mournful howl echoed off the hillsides. At first, they thought it was a coyote. Then they realized that Dan, who was tethered a short distance away from the fire, was harmonizing - or trying to.

McCarthy and Dan began singing at friends' parties and at local hospitals to cheer up the patients. And when McCarthy read in the newspaper about the Great American Dog Walk in Griffith Park - complete with a singing dog contest - he grabbed his harmonica, his guitar and Dan and headed for the park.

There wasn't much competition, but Dan warbled the best he knew how.

``There were about 15 or 20 dogs and only one howled even a little bit,'' McCarthy said. ``We didn't put on a very professional show. Dan got tangled up in the microphone cord, but he sang OK.''

When the people running the national Advantage contest saw a videotape of Dan's performance, they notified McCarthy that the talented canine was a finalist and invited Dan and his owner on an all-expenses-paid trip to New York.

As befitting a soon-to-be celebrity, Dan got a new collar and leash and a St. Francis medal for his collar from a friend. He went to the groomer for a bath and a pedicure. And once the plane landed in New York, a stretch limousine was waiting to whisk McCarthy, Pellegrin and Dan away to the Crown Plaza Hotel on Times Square.

The singing-dog finalists had been scheduled to appear the next day on several television shows, including ``Good Morning America,'' but the death of Mother Teresa focused the news in a more serious direction. Without TV commitments, the California trio strolled around Times Square, dining at al fresco restaurants and drawing crowds of passers-by for a panhandler and a street performer playing the bagpipes as Dan crooned a few tunes.

``He's a magnet,'' McCarthy said. ``People love to see him.''

The contest itself was held toward the end of a day that had begun at 4:30 a.m. at South Street Seaport in Manhattan. The press descended on Dan, with each reporter wanting him to sing his doggy heart out for the cameras. By the time the competition began, Dan's tail was draggin'.

``I did the first three verses (of `Little Itchy Spot') and the rest of it was pretty much Dan,'' McCarthy said. ``He did all right. He was howlin' and the audience was laughin'. He did good; I wasn't disappointed.

``I was trying to save him up for the show, but every reporter wanted their little bit of him. I think he was tired - over-rehearsed.''

Everybody was happy to get back home, particularly Dan.

``I don't think he likes to travel,'' McCarthy said. ``I think this is the last trip he'll take. He'd rather stay home. All the excitement makes him nervous.''

So Dan is currently in retirement. Or maybe, as the show-biz people say, just between engagements.

You never know when another good singing gig will come along.

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Photo

Photo: Dan the dog displays his vocal talents while accompanied by owner Gary McCarthy. The duo recently traveled from their home in Altadena to Manhattan to compete in the America's Best Singing Pet competition.

David Sprague/Daily News