Homemade Corn Dogs

Does anyone have the secret to keeping the coating on a corndog from the time it is dipped till you get it in the oil.
I have googled corn dogs and found many recipes for coating the dog but the ones I try never seem to stick to the dog and I wind up with a not so pretty example.
I tried using a deep glass for dipping and a deep pan for frying the dog in an upright position. A friend who has been a cook for many years said he has never had any luck either.
I doubt if I will achieve a dog like is sold at the county fair but sure would like to get closer than what I get now.

Have you tried these directions? After all, these are the folks with the original fair corn dogs, so they should have the directions pretty well down pat.

http://www.prontopup.net/id12.html

I think it was Food Finds on FoodNetwork I saw a program on making corn dogs. It was all in the hand... Ya dip, dip again, spin, flip up, then flip down into the fryer... All I can say is keep practicing! I'm pretty sure you'll find plenty of volunteers to eat any potential failures...

Thanks for the tips so far folks. I live overseas so can't get the ProntoPup mix here but for sure I will keep practiseing how to do it until I get it almost right.
Any more suggestions and tips are always welcomed. I did find the Alton Brown meathod of Corn Dog preparation and I think I might be on the right track.

Alton Brown dredges the hot dogs in corn starch before dipping them into the batter. Here is his complete recipe:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/cooking/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_25894,00.html

One more thing: I watched the actual Alton Brown episode. In addition to dredging the hot dogs in cornstarch, he poured the batter into a tall glass, and dipped the hot dogs vertically, "candlemaker style," into the batter, rather than rolling them horizontally in a bowl.