[Carol Burke]

You could feed him in his crate and give him a stuffed kong in the crate when you are leaving for any length of time.

With the barking, if you teach him to bark on command, then you can teach him to stop barking on command.

I don't know if a play group would be a good idea until you know this dog a little better. It generally takes about a month for a rescue to settle in and show what he is truly like. Sometimes a dog that age is not interested in playing with other dogs and may be dog aggressive.

Good luck with your new guy.