Based on the code here, http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/ui/dialogs.html#CustomDialog . I am successfully able to create a custom dialog with background and buttons ins
I think this will help you out
gameOver would be the dialog name and in setContentView it would be ur custom dialog layout
gameOver = new Dialog(Main.this);
gameOver.requestWindowFeature(Window.FEATURE_NO_TITLE);
gameOver.getWindow().setBackgroundDrawable(new ColorDrawable(Color.TRANSPARENT));
gameOver.setCancelable(false);
gameOver.setContentView(R.layout.gameover);