"I personally believe that shock collars would increase the level of anxiety or increase these behaviours because it's a type of punishment."
Babington, who is doing her Masters on the subject, was a passionate dog lover as she had been brought up with them.
Dogs involved in the study would need to be left alone for periods of time and display anxiety symptoms including excessive barking, destruction and urinating.
"These behaviours that occur should only occur when the owners are absent, not when they are home.
"The vocalisation is quite a hard one to measure but if the neighbours are complaining, that should be a pretty good indication."
However, there were also the unseen signs - excessive pacing, and repetitive behaviours which left no evidence.
The participants will be set up into the two groups. One group will have cameras set up in their home to watch their behaviour.
The owners would leave the house for one minute, two minutes and continuing to increase.
"We've got two behavioural treatments that we are looking to apply, so the owners will have to apply these treatments themselves. The first is systematic desensitisation, that is when we are trained to desensitise the dog to the owner's absence. The owner could first leave for one minute, then come back over couple of days and the time will increase."
The second treatment was simple - giving the pet a treat before they left the house and once arriving back home.
"Giving the dog a treat will hopefully make them happy, so that when you leave they should be feeling the happiness of receiving a treat rather than feeling anxious when the owner leaves.
Babington was looking to start the observation phase by the end of April, if not sooner.
The threshold for the study is for dogs aged over six months and under eight years old.
The study had been given ethics approval from the university, she said.
Animal behaviourist Mark Vette said puppies needed to be trained as pups to avoid developing serious separation anxiety issues.
Some tips to help your pet included scattering a handful of dog biscuits around their pen, kennel or run, leaving a chew toy to keep them occupied, getting another dog, or taking them for a big or walk run before work.
BABY STEPS FOR RESCUE DOG
Kathy White has always owned a rescue dog. Two years ago, after the death of their beloved German shepherd Molly died, she and her husband got Brian.
Brian is a labrador, Huntaway cross that's just over four years old.
"He's got quite a lot of anxiety, actually." White said. "He was moved around a bit as far as I can tell, so he has a lot of anxiety in the car ... he whines and he paces backwards and forwards.
"We've got him to the point where he's quite good with local places as long as he can stick his head out the window, but anywhere too far he's probably a bit suspect."
However, he had come a long way in the two years they had him and was now lucky enough to accompany her to work.
White works for Fiona Paul who doesn't mind her home turning into a doggy daycare.
Paul, who owns Newfoundland Daisy, said the dogs kept each other company during the day with their owners nearby.
"The fact she can work with me at home and have all the dogs here together has been great for him because he doesn't need to be separated from her now."
White said 15-month-old Daisy didn't have any separation anxiety issues and was fortunate enough to spend most of her time with her owners.
Paul and husband, Gregor, chose the Newfoundland breed as they knew she would be working from home.
"They are very sociable. We wouldn't have got a dog like her if I was going out to work each day."
When Daisy is left home alone, she was known to be found sleeping in the bathroom, keeping cool wrapped around the toilet bowl on the tiles.
"They're so hairy that they just get so hot."
First-time dog owner Penelope Robinson has two-year-old schnoodle, Oscar.
He was known to get slightly anxious when left alone.
"He's okay if he's left at home because he's familiar with home. This morning I've been out to a funeral and he walked around and has a bit of a whimper for a while. He's aware when you go... he probably gets like that because he hasn't been left alone a lot.
"But he's always hysterically excited to see you."
Robinson said if they arrived home to find Oscar anxious they would reassure him.
As for what she most loved about Oscar, it was the happiness they always exuded.
"Even if you've had a really bad day ... he's just always so happy to see you so it's hard to be down or grumpy when he's around."
