Poor Simon! He's such a good-lookin' guy!

My black lab/chow mix, Solita, had the less expensive surgery for her ACL injury. She was smallish for a lab--a little over 50 pounds, but extremely active. We live on a bayshore, and she spent most days running and swimming. We had the surgery done by a vet from the Auburn University vet school, and it was successful. She continued to limp just a bit for the remaining 5 years of her life, but she remained active and never had to have another surgery.

The hardest part was the recovery, as divingbiker mentioned, which involved lots of carrying and keeping her restrained. That was miserable, mostly for poor Solita, but totally worth it.