Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. to show off.

1970		L. Schecter Polo Grounds 49: [H]e began to hot-dog it, making the easy plays look hard.
1981		J. Wambaugh Glitter Dome (1982) 134: They grooved and jived and danced through the others, hot-dogging at speeds that would have produced maiming or death if they had collided.
1989		H. Rawson Dict. of Invective (1991) 202: hot dog. A show-off or, as a verb, to show off.
1999		Detroit Free Press (MI) 31 Jan. 36/1: A group of young men caught up in all the hoopla and hype [...] hotdogging it, trash-talking and acting as if they were above it all.
2001		(con. 1975–6) E. Little Steel Toes 111: When anyone shows up drivin’ into the compound — ’specially hotdoggin’ in a Cuda — they will be met by a sawed-off shotgun.
2006		Chicago Trib. 18 Feb. 1/2: Some would call it show-boating, hot-dogging or just plain stupid.
2016		M. Carey ‘Bad News’ 57: From the opening tipoff, he hot-dogged for the enthralled troupe [of girls], performing the Ali Shuffle [...] and hollering, ‘I am the greatest’.

2. to chase, to harass, to pursue.

1979

S. King Dead Zone (1980) 291: We have plenty of crazy politicians around [...] we’ve got Stillson who wants to hot dog his way into the House of Representatives.

3. (US) to perform very well.

1992

D. Burke Street Talk 2 68: He’s really hot doggin’ it out there.