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Intervertebral disc extrusion (IVDE) is the most common cause of acute spinal cord injury (SCI) in dogs, and chondrodystrophic breeds such as the dachshund are commonly represented in the literature. The high incidence of spontaneous SCI in dogs makes them an important large animal model for human SCI. Clinical evaluation of dogs with SCI has historically focused on locomotor scoring and only a crude assessment of the `presence’ or `absence’ of nociception. The development of repeatable, sensitive and objective outcomes measures are of immense importance in establishing dogs with spontaneous SCI as a successful model for human SCI. Clearly defined outcome measures would allow for the identification of potential interventional therapy that may progress into clinical trials in humans. The goals of this study were to (1) identify differences in sensory threshold (ST) values between normal dogs and dogs with spontaneous IVDE and (2) to identify differences in footprint parameters between normal dogs and dogs with spontaneous IVDE to be used as outcome measures from SCI.Twenty normal dogs and 29 dogs with 30 discrete incidences of spontaneous SCI due to acute IVDE were prospectively enrolled for both studies. Sensory threshold (ST) was measured using an electric von Frey anesthesiometer (VFA) in all limbs of normal dogs at three separate time points and SCI-affected dogs at day 3, 10 and 30 following decompressive surgery. ST values were compared between groups and correlated with locomotor recovery in SCI-affected dogs. ST values were significantly higher (consistent with hypoalgesia) in the pelvic limbs of SCI-affected dogs at day 3, day 10 and day 30 when compared to normal dogs while no significant difference in thoracic limb ST values was observed between groups. A progressive decrease in pelvic limb ST values occurred in SCI-affected dogs over time, consistent with improvement toward normal sensation or development of allodynia. This finding correlated inversely with locomotor score. A significant overall decline in ST values across testing sessions was observed for all limbs of normal and SCI-affected dogs. This finding may be related to patient acclimation, operator training effect, or effect of analgesic medications. Footprint parameters of stride length (SL), base-of-support (BS) and coefficients of variance (COV) were made using a simple `finger painting’ technique in all limbs of the same 20 normal dogs and 29 dogs with 30 discrete incidences of IVDE. Measurements were made at three separate time points in normal dogs and on day 3, 10 and 30 following decompressive surgery in dogs with SCI. Values for SL and BS were compared between groups at each time point. Mean SL in all limbs was significantly lower in SCI-affected dogs at day 3, 10 and 30 compared to normal dogs. The COV of SL was significantly higher in both thoracic limbs and one pelvic limb in SCI-affected dogs only at day 3 following surgery compared to normal dogs. Additionally, BS in the thoracic limbs was found to be significantly higher in SCI-affected dogs at day 3 and day 30 following surgery compared to normal dogs. BS-PL was not significantly different between SCI-affected dogs and normal dogs.