Explanation of Chester’s Syringomyelia Video

Scene 1: Meet Chester!

Scene 2: Shows typical scratching when left neck area is brushed . Note: only scratches when brushed on left, no scratching when being brushed on right side. Also note he keeps his head turned to the right, away from the affected side..

Scene 3: Shows numbness of Chester’s front feet. He pulls away when I gently squeeze his back feet, but does not react when I squeeze his front feet hard.

Scene 4: Shows typical scratching when being petted on left side of neck. Note no scratching when being touched on right. Also note he falls over due to combination of weakness in front feet and scratching.

Scene 5: Shows head tilt which worsens when he gets excited and/or barks. There is a better view of this in scene 7.

Scene 6: Shows Chester’s left leg thrown out to the side while standing. This shows that he has impairment in sensing where his limbs are in space (this is called proprioceptive defect). Also shows that he cannot stay standing/sitting for long, but has to lie down due to weakness of legs.

Scene 7: Again shows head tilt which worsens when he barks. Also note that in his excitement, he has to scratch and falls over again. Note how his head twists even further with each bark.

Scene 8: Again shows scratching when being brushed on left side of neck. Note no scratching when being brushed on right side.

Scene 9: Quick view of same thing as scene 8.

Scene 10-11-12: Shows how Chester has to rub his face/head on the floor after he eats. Note: he’s not just wiping his mouth off, he’s rubbing his head on the floor. He gets so excited that he groans and rolls around on the floor. He also does this when he gets really excited, like when I first come home from work.

Scene 13: Shows how Chester screams out in pain when he is picked up.

Scene 14: Shows scratching on lead.

Scene 15-16: Shows how he holds his head down and slightly tilted. Compare how he holds his head to the other dog in the scene (my Scout) holds hers.

Scene 17-18-19-20-21: Shows scratching when walking on lead. I call it the “3 legged bunny-hop”.

Scene 22-23: Shows Chester walking through leaves and stumbling. He stumbles whenever there is a slippery surface under foot and when making quick turns. This shows the weakness and numbness in his legs.

Scene 24: Shows the wear on the tops and sides of the nails of Chester’s left front leg. This is because his left front foot turns over when he takes a step and the top of his foot scrapes the ground. It also shows how he wears his slippers away.

Scene 25 (last scene): Shows how he holds his head turned away from the affected side. He also has a look of being in a bit of pain in this scene, as if he has a headache.

Here are some examples of how Chester's syringomyelia affects him. The picture on the left shows how he has lost the ability to know where his front legs are in space (it's called a proprioceptive defect). The middle picture and the top pciture on the right show how he has to throw either leg out to the side and curl his head around to the opposite side to take the pressure off his spinal cord. The bottom picture on the right shows how he has lost the ability to hold his head up as he's gotten older. The lower picture of Ches on the "Our Stories page shows this in its earlier stage. His birthday hat picture on his page shows the characteristic head tilt of dogs with SM. A few years ago I made a video of Chester's symptoms caused by syringomyelia and presented his case at a CKCSC show. I am happy to say I was finally able to upload the video to the web to share with others.