Niak is a 4 year old (in two days) 75 pound Sib. He is big but not overweight, just larger than normal.

He has been having rear leg troubles for the last few months. Recently he hurt it pretty bad (limping, holding it up). He saw the vet yesterday and we were told he has torn his ACL and damaged his knee pretty bad. We were also told his other rear leg was hurt a little compensating and one of his front shoulders is being hurt as well.

He is going to see an ortho soon, but I was wondering if anyone here had some advice of their own. Any personal experiences. Poor guy has to deal with this on his birthday and favorite time of the year  

Denali tore her ACL many years ago and although the vet did a great job fixing it, she never fully recovered from it. She was 9 at the time.

Beka tore her ACL a little over two months ago. They said first thing she needed NSAIDs and rest. She is at a perfect weight so the Dr thought she could heal on there own. She said the heavier the more likely they wont fully heal on their own.  Also depended on if tear or fully torn apart. So she got Rx of NSAID and Tramadol for pain. They said that the ACL surgeon put them on Traumeel a homeopathis NSAID pain reliever equavialent. She was put on no play no running. She is getting better. They originally told us 8-12 weeks of healthing is step one. There was physical therapy if we wanted and surgey is last step. Beka is 11 and they said her other leg is weak too. So we have her on glocosamine chondrotin w MSM....plus have tramadol Rx for bad days. I had to go to Whole Foods to get this stuff. Oh and we used some calming herbal pills on bad days to slow her down. She has a checkup after the New Year while she stays with her Dr while we are out of town. Let me know what info they give you. And I will let you know what they say after we get back.

oops! quite a delayed response on my part here...

Niak went to the ortho and we found out he actually had his acl torn in both rear legs! His left leg was fine as it had seemingly healed itself. The problem in his right leg was that he also had a torn meniscus. This tear was the causing factor to his discomfort and limping. The ortho suggested that we had his acl repaired while he was doing surgery anyways to fix the meniscus, and we did.

He is on the "homestretch" of his recovery, meaning he can now be taken for walks. He's still not allowed to run and jump (and this is proving difficult to monitor) but he is already doing many many times better! We just hope his other leg does not eventually flare up.

This is good to hear. I am so happy that it seems like he will have total recovery.
I also forgot to respond to this after Beka's January appt.
Beka's ACL healed up with the Traumeel and she is mobile without pain.
She is still on the Traumeel but that is because during December she gained a knot of arthritis in the same area. So since she is older she will probably always have a slight hitch in her gait between the heal and the arthritis. She will stay on the support supplement permanently but once she is back to the dog park we will wean the Traumeel. But it will probably stay with her like an elderly human with aspirin for arthritis. But she is a happy dog and it sounds like Niak is too so this is good!