It actually does sound like a petit mal seizure ... they look completely different than the more serious grand mals, but both are epileptic in nature
During the petit mals, or with the less serious "auras", dogs appear to be disproented, display obsessive/compulsive behaviors such as pacing, turning, or running into objects. Sometimes they start "fly biting" at the air. In some instances, the entire seizure is nothing more than a dull staring off into space. The grand mals are the classic seizures where the dog goes stiff & falls over on it's side, begins to shake, etc. Often, the petit mals will progress into grand mals as the dog ages ... I have an epileptic going on 8yrs old soon. He started out w/ auras then progressed to grand mals. Every seizure is different, however he ALWAYS starts it by running head on into something, then will fall over and have a sever seizure.
Both types of seizures are neurological disorders and forms of ideopathic epilepsy ... They are TRIGGERED by stress, over exertion, extreme hot or cold weather, diet ... the list goes on, but those are the major triggers. They are 100% genetic - if you breed a dog with any form of epilepsy, 50% of the litter will be affected, while another 25% will be carriers. Once a dog displays a certain trait, they are dominant for it, and your friend will never be able to rid his line of it if he breeds her. There are just too many outstanding examples of the breed to justify breeding a dog that has any type of fits/seizures ... I know a Lab breeder whose dogs have these "running fits" - someone who bought a pup from him was describing it to me once, and I told him it was epilepsy. He swore left & right that it was not a seizure, until one day the dog actually did fall over and seize during this fit. That was the first and only time the dog did this. He told the breeder but unfortunately, it fell on deaf ears.
Epilepsy is a known genetic disease in the Beagle, but so many breeders dismiss it as hypoglycemia - which it is NOT - hypoglycemic dogs have other symptoms, and only if the blood sugar drops to near fatal lows, will the dog seize/loose consciousness. All "fits" are epileptic in nature; they just vary in degrees of seriousness and type (auras, petit mal, grand mal, ).
This site is an excellent resource on canine epilepsy & I believe describes the type of seizure your friend's dog is displaying:
http://www.canine-epilepsy.net/basics/basics_index.html
"Complex focal seizures originate in the areas of the brain that control emotions and behavior (the temporal lobes) and are sometimes called psychomotor seizures.
When a seizure begins in one of these areas, the animal's consciousness is altered and they behave bizarrely. They may run uncontrollably, engage in senseless, repetitive behavior, or rarely fly into a rage. Other times, we see bodily functions affected and the pet may have diarrhea or vomit. Following a typical generalized seizure, unusual behavior (post-ictal behavior) is common and may go on for hours. Complex focal seizures, like other types of seizures, are typically very brief.
Most often, an animal behaving aggressively or acting strangely has a behavioral problem or some other reason for the change in behavior. If, however, these changes occur as discrete episodes, and the pet also has a generalized seizure, we can be sure that this is a complex focal seizure and treat it accordingly. People with complex focal seizures may experience hallucinations. Some dogs have episodes of fly-biting where they appear to be biting at imaginary flies around their head. Some of these may be complex focal seizures although we cannot tell for sure."