Ah, there's the confusion. We typically refer to both the sausage itself, and the complete dish (with bun and toppings), as a "hot dog", especially if the sausa

Ah, there's the confusion. We typically refer to both the sausage itself, and the complete dish (with bun and toppings), as a "hot dog", especially if the sausage is a generic Frankfurter or Vienna sausage. If someone said they fed a dog a hotdog, I'd assume it's just the sausage.