THE TOP DOGS AT TACO BELL.

Byline: - Carol Bidwell

What's important to most teen-age guys?

Chicks, right? And food, fast food.

Now picture your favorite teen dude as a dog, and you've got the subtext behind the current series of ``Yo quiero Taco Bell'' commercials for the Mexican-seasoned eatery.

That big-eared, pint-size canine who's on a never-ending quest for tacos, burritos and the like is, in his heart, just another teen-ager.

``The Chihuahua's character is to be perceived as a 19-year-old guy in a dog's body who primarily thinks about food and girls,'' reads Taco Bell's mission statement for the popular commercials. ``The dog has an undying quest for Taco Bell.''

The little dog who's the hero of the commercials is a butch little guy named Dinky, owned by Steve Martin's Working Wildlife company in Frazier Park, a desolate, mountainous area in the far north of Ventura County.

Dinky has been a boon to Taco Bell, which does $4.9 billion in sales a year, serving 55 million consumers a week at 4,900 restaurants nationwide.

And while the dog is cute and feisty, the commercials' punch line is becoming part of American pop culture-speak, right up there with ``Where's the beef?'' and ``I've fallen and I can't get up.''

``You know you've really hit on something when teen-agers and college students start using it,'' said Vada Hill, chief marketing officer for the fast-food company. ``It has become part of the common parlance.''

So far, Dinky (Taco Bell is considering a contest to come up with an appropriate stage name for their taco-craving canine) has appeared in four commercials, with more to come.

Beginning April 1, all Taco Bell eateries will post an 800 phone number that consumers can call to order t-shirts with the dog's visage on them.

Dinky's yearning ladylove, Gidget, actually a kennelmate, has appeared in two of the ads.

(That's also Gidget who appears in El Pollo Loco commercials made before she and Dinky were put under exclusive contract to Taco Bell.)

On the set, the dogs - each with a doggy double who steps in when the stars are tired - are treated like, well, top dogs. They arrive in chauffeur-driven limousines, are given frequent drinks of bottled water and dine on grilled chicken breast and steak. On breaks, they nap and attend training school, just like a human child actor.

``They're as cute as pie,'' said Taco Bell spokeswoman Laurie Gannon. ``They're really sweet to work with. The little boy dog ... he's a kinda studly guy, not the little yappy stereotype of a Chihuahua.''

Yes, the ``Yo quiero Taco Bell'' mouth movements are computer-generated, and so are the raised eyebrows, Gannon said.

But Dinky does do his own stunt work, enticed by morsels of chicken dangled out of camera range by his trainer.

Although the commercials' success has revived interest in Chihuahuas as well as made mouths water for Mexican food, the TV dogs weren't raised to be actors.

``We like to rescue 'em,'' said trainer Rebecca Golland. ``We got this Chihuahua - the hero dog - from the pound.''

In the commercials, the little dog is never seen wolfing down any of the food he chases after. And there's a good reason for that.

``They don't eat Taco Bell because of all the spices,'' Gannon said. ``Their little stomachs couldn't take it.''

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Photo

Photo: Dinky, the star of Taco Bell's latest commercials, came from the pound.