I had to run Phoebe to the vet at lunchtime after a mild collapse. No other symptoms, no prior episodes. Gum/tongue colour normal for the circumstances - we'd been in the garden with her ball for her daily constitutional - 20-30 reps of an 80ft long circuit after a ball, full speed to it, half speed back - and nothing was unusual. She laid down when she'd had enough, walked back in with me and peed on cue on the way. The panting is normal for the exercise she'd just done, but she was a little hotter than usual today.

When she got into the kitchen, she went to the other end and started to get wobbly - she didn't fall over as there's a lot of stuff there at the moment so she was positioning herself to lean on things. Very wobbly though.

I got this footage as it was easing off, in case it stopped before we left for the vet:

https://youtu.be/gYEHuSs8SYA

She was right as rain within a few minutes of this and has been fine since. The vet couldn't find anything clinically wrong with her, she's in great health as usual so for now I have to monitor her and keep a diary if it happens again. Neurological issues were mentioned as a possibility - I rather hope not as there's nothing I can do about that; a referral isn't an option with her various issues and my vets don't have the facilities for further investigation on that front.

However I was already aware of Border Collie Collapse and looking at vids on youtube, it looks very similar. Does anyone have any experience of it, or of anything like what I filmed today?

What age is Phoebe?

Knew I'd forgotten something!  She turned 8yrs on the 1st.

Does she lose consciousness?

No.  She wasn't responding to me much, dazed, but fully conscious.  I was able to check her eyes (normal).

I am wondering if it may be related to the heart?? Of course I maybe barking up the wrong tree but its a thought...

Could it be this?
http://www.justlabradors.com/health-and-nutrition/exercise-induced-collapse-labrador-retrievers

That is my current suspicion and sort-of hope (because that is manageable and doesn't require referrals etc) - BCC is basically the same syndrome, just in collies.  Whether it is literally the same thing I believe is still being investigated.

Clever you to get the video clip. I would have been in too much of a panic.  She does look very puffed out and the amount of chasing she had done sounds a lot. Maybe it was a precursor to heatstroke.   My Cavalier had a peculiar episode that looked similar. By the time I got her to the vet (15 mins.) she was fully recovered and asking the receptionist for treats. It has never recurred and that was about 3 years ago.

she almost looks tucked up / pre-bloat to me ? did she gulp lots of water ? Definitely excessive panting there.

No.  She had a couple of laps before I filmed this bit, but none before the episode started a minute or so before.  Just came straight in from the garden and started wobbling.

> Clever you to get the video clip. I would have been in too much of a panic.

I am a very practical person   I tend not to panic too much, just think through what needs to be done and what would help (and if I could sufficiently describe what had happened to the vet, in case she'd stopped before we got there) and this is not the first time I've had a dog collapsing on me like this so I was a little clearer-headed this time.  It helped that I knew she didn't have pre-existing heart problems - the other dog was having a heart attack from DCM and I was fully aware that I was going to lose her, so it was a bit easier to be rational this time around.

Friend has BCs and one of hers (b about 3-4yrs) had a few episodes that sound similar, hers occurred in hottish weather when the dog had been working. It was suggested to her that she gave the dog some honey or glucose to speed up 'back to normal'.

Dogs can get low blood sugar

Both the other day and today, she'd had some kibble not long beforehand as I'd run her after walking my other dogs so she had some in a treat ball to occupy her while I took them out.  We've done this before many times without issue.  This would have been about 90 minutes before her run.

Today I've just run her, we were out for about 6 minutes.  Same thing again - fine while running, peed on cue, came indoors fine, then she stopped responding to me, had a wobble, leaned forward over her front legs then collapsed.  Just like I've seen the dogs in the BCC videos I've watched do.  Not as dramatic as the other day by a long way but what did happen looked the same.  There was also an odd little halted tuck with her back legs, almost like she was trying to stop herself stumbling forward (but her head was at the kitchen gate so she couldn't have).  That does suggest neurological to me. 

Today though it's very windy and we paused halfway through the run, so I could go and fetch the ball that she couldn't possibly get herself from behind half a dozen dry nettle stalks!  So she won't have been quite as hot today.  She recovered very quickly again and is fine now.