Joe.....spend the money, get the best. Your dog will start to put its foot down soon enough. Let it rest for 8 weeks, but walk it from 5 weeks a little. The muscle wastage will look aweful, but dont worry about it. Your dog should be running rabbits on soft fields by mid febuary, so you will get a couple of weeks out of it....unless you wish to wait until next season... personally i would be running the dog as soon as it looks right. Plenty of muscle on those back legs. Give it a good balanced diet and it should heal up just fine and dandy. keep your chin up, i know how you feel..... JD