We adopted a dog from the humane society in February of this year. He is a neutered mix breed about 50 pounds in size. He appears to be about 3 years old according to information from the HS. He is very hyper and energetic.

Before I go further, I was a police canine officer for 7 years and trained two patrol/narcotic dogs as well as my own dog that died almost 2 years ago. I am well versed in the training and handling of dogs.

So, now on to my issues. This dog does not listen. There is no doubt that I am the alpha in the pack. When we are inside, he will come to me and want to be pet as long as it was his idea. If I call him to me, he runs and hides. If I try to get him after this he will cower and pee. If he needs to go outside he will let anyone in the family hook him up to his leash and take him outside, except me. He either will not come to me to get hooked onto his lead, or if he does he again urinates at my feet. I understand this is a submissive thing, and I have been trying very hard to get past it, but we don't seem to be making any headway.

If he gets outside not on a leash, he runs. No matter who is outside trying to get him to come to them, he runs and comes back when he is ready to come back. He won't come to me, kids, or my wife once he is outside. If anyone follows him to try to get him, he just keeps running, so we are not playing that 'game' with him anymore.

He is territorial. He goes absolutely crazy if someone comes to the door and starts running around the room in circles, to the point I can't even get him to answer the door. He does not respond to verbal commands to stop. Once they are inside he is fine with them. If someone walks by in the street he again acts this same way. He is aggressive towards other animals as they walk past the house as well.

Yesterday was almost the end of the entire experiment with this dog. We all just arrived home and a neighbor was walking up the street. As we opened the door from the garage he ran out to the yard and when he saw her, aggressively ran toward her barking. He stopped about 15 feet from her and stood her ground, as did she. He just continued to bark and never lunged any closer. I was just pulling into the drive as this was happening so I called him into the car (the only place he will ever go when called, likes car rides, go figure). Apologized to the neighbor and went in.

He is VERY good with my kids, but I can't train him if all he does is cower to me and run from me.

"There is no doubt that I am the alpha in the pack. When we are inside, he will come to me and want to be pet as long as it was his idea. "

Not trying to be mean but if you were alpha wouldn't he trust you and come to you.

He sounds so much like a dog that I used to have.

If I were you and had the money I would invest in a few meetings with a behaviorist.