Narcoleptic dog drops unconscious at arrival of postman Watch the vid
Mable, a bearded collie cross, suffers from canine narcolepsy, a condition that is so rare vets have been left scratching their heads over how to treat her.
The five-year-old dog's fits cause her to suddenly fall asleep at any time.
Her bouts of unconciousness last between four and 20 seconds and are brought on by situations during which she becomes excited, such as the daily arrival of the postman, playing with other dogs or if she is petted too vigourously.
has learnt to recognise the signs leading to Mable's sleep attacks.
She wags her tail furiously and runs around yelping before she hits the ground "like she's been struck by a bullet," owner Owner, Trevor Gliddon, 46, Gliddon said.
Vets have recommended Mable avoids over-excitement in a bid to beat the sleeping bouts.
To keep her calm, Trevor uses a number of techniques, including places his hands over Mable's ears to block out exciting sounds or calling her name sharply to draw her attention away from the stimulus.
However, Trevor is not always successful in shielding Mable from the excitement of meeting fellow dogs.
"Mable does get excited when she meets other dogs because she's so friendly," said Trevor.
"Then all of a sudden she'll be out like a light.
"She's only gone for a couple of seconds.
"From her point of view one moment they're all on top of each other and the next the other dogs will be 20 metres away.
"This does tend to puzzle her as suddenly every one else has moved on.
"It's like time travel to her.
"But other dogs don't really take much notice when she collapses, they just ignore it."
Trevor adopted Mable after her finding her on Dartmoor while walking his other dog Aimee, a four-year-old labrador.
