Better news

Riley woke up in good spirits today. During his am potty break his gait was less laborous and if you didn't know him well or knew that he had an injury, you might not have even noticed his gimpy trot. I was pleased to see some improvement from our efforts.
While reading and researching online about cruciate ligament injuries, I found out that this is the most common type of orthopedic injury in dogs. Who knew? It is, in fact, the ACL in the knee that is partially or entirely torn, just like in people.
I have also learned that there is a name for what we are doing: Conservative Management. It is the rehabilitation option that vets are not willing to suggest. And Riley seems like a very good candidate for it as we have already seen improvement in the week we have restricted his activities.

The plan:
No jumping or running at all.
All walks on leash with close supervision.
No going up stairs in the house. The outside stairs offer a lot more traction and are less steep. Riley does not seem to balk at all at these and maneuvers them with little stress.
No jumping on furniture.
No jumping in or out of the car.
Strict diet. We have 1-2 more pounds to shed off.

We will be adding supplements to his diet to help with his joints and look into hydrotherapy as a way to keep exercising him without impact. Also, regular chiropractic adjustments to ease the tension in his back and hips from overcompensating the weak knee.

For now, I have decided to stay on this plan for 6-8 weeks. We'll see how this plan gets changed/adapted as time goes on.

As I read more and learn more, I now realize that this has been an issue that existed even before the date (Sept. 4th) I thought the injury first occured. I read on line that someone's dog began to refuse to sit and that was one of the first symptoms. Riley had begun to do that a few weeks before the 4th. I had thought that with the new puppy, he was being fresh and insolent, refusing to sit on command. I now look back with guilt as it was probably difficult or even painful for him to bend down into a sitting position. In addition, for months, Riley has been balking at the stairs in the house. Often requiring several false starts before heading up the stairs. And the way he would go up stairs looked like something was chasing him, and he was afraid of slowing down and losing his momentum. It is sad to think about it, but night after night we were asking him to climb those stairs. And he did it with our encouragement. My sweet boy.