DESTRUCTION!!!

Ok, so as of late the new dog situation has been causing some...issues. So this blog post, instead of being fun and cheeky (well maybe a little fun and cheeky) is in desperation. Anyone with prior dog knowledge or with experience with separation anxiety cases would be greatly appreciated. So here's my deal:

My 2 something year old rescue dog, Scout, apparently was not very well taken care of at his previous residence. Whenever we leave him alone, he thinks OH MY GOD! THEY ARE NEVER COMING BACK! Destroy ALL the things!!! So far he has destroyed: his crate, a couple towels, chewed the doorknob, scratched some of the door, tore a paper curtain, and peed on the floor.

Now, I've tried to leave the crate door un-locked with just something holding it shut to where he can get out, and it worked....once. Today I came home to chaos. So it's like he gets it into his little doggy head that if he escapes, hes done enough damage. But if we let him escape, we just don't care about him anymore and he should chew the everloving bajeesus out of some poor unsuspecting inanimate object. Now, he knows that what he has done is wrong, he just can't help it. The one day, he got a shoe, picked it up, put it on the couch to chew, thought better of it and left it there. He picked up another shoe, did the same thing. So he doesn't want to make us unhappy, he just gets so upset when we leave. I have tried placing something that smells like us in the crate, which he just tore up trying to escape. I've tried happy traveler calming pills. They did absolutely nothing. I just really have no idea what to do.

So here is what I'm asking. I have a very strong, lonely boy. Does anyone have any advice for me on how to help my poor rescue baby feel more at home? We have had him for a month now and every time you say something stern to him, he pees on the floor like it's the end of the world. I would love to know what the sorry sack of shit that had him before did to him, however I am not permitted to know much about his previous life considering that the place we adopted him (Warren County Human Society in VA) didn't mention his knee problems, his separation anxiety, his microchip that they said he didn't have, previous vet info even though they require a vet visit within a week to get him up to date (they expected me to do this without paperwork that they had and just didn't give to me), as well as when sending me the appropriate forms that they didn't give me, misspelling my name on the envelope. I do not intend to get rid of him. We are renting a place, so I can NOT have him messing it up or we will be forced to surrender him back to the shelter. Not enough money to keep replacing things he destroys. SO I AM ASKING ANYONE WITH EXPERIENCE! Is there a way to help my boy? Don't hesitate to help out here ;)