palmbob, would deeply appreciate your input

palmbob, I've got a challenge on my hands that I don't know how to best meet. My Tasha recently tore the cruciate in her right hind. It was surgically repaired 11 days ago (a week ago last Monday). Since the surgery, I've been taking Tasha outside on-leash to relieve herself and sniff around a bit, and she's been doing pretty well. Paul, my very competent vet and a good friend to me and my 4-legged family, wants me to start taking Tasha for short walks to rebuild muscle in her recovering leg ... but here's the problem.

Tasha is maniacal. She is a 54 lb. Aussie or heeler mix - something with an INCREDIBLE drive and UNSTOPPABLE work ethic. Even when she first tore the ligament and until I could schedule her surgery, she never once acknowledged even the slightest pain. She just picked up the injured leg and continued to run, play, twist, turn, jump, spin, herd anything that moves, etc., etc., etc. on the other three legs. If she had all four legs amputated, I have no doubt she'd still find a way to try to herd the cats! Paul has known Tasha since she was a tiny puppy, so he's well aware of what I'm dealing with here. I told him that the only way I might possibly be able to get her through this recuperative period without either reinjuring the torn cruciate or tearing the one in the other leg is to keep her sedated, so she's on Amytriptiline. Of course, it's having no noticeable effect on her. She's still insane. I can contain her activity somewhat in the house and on the leash, but she will NOT crate, so she's still bouncing around more than she should be. But that's not the immediate problem.

The immediate problem is that Tasha will not walk. Everything in Tasha's world and psyche travels at speed. On-leash if I am barely crawling forward in tiny steps, Tasha will piaffe on three legs beside me, refusing to put her injured leg down. The only time she will actually take walking steps using the injured leg is if she is following a scent trail in the yard and has her nose in the grass. Then she has no problem using the fourth leg. It's just that when she travels any faster than a walk ... or rather, when she WANTS to travel faster than a walk (which is 99.99999999% of the time), she simply picks up the injured leg and starts bouncing.

So, here's my question. What drug - sedative or anti-anxiety - would most likely take enough of the edge off of Tasha so she will slow down and walk without compromising her balance (which could lead to reinjury of the leg) AND would be safe to keep her on for another 6-7 weeks until her leg is strong enough to stand up to her phenomenal activity level?

I'm at a loss. I knew it would be incredibly difficult to prevent Tasha from reinjuring the leg with her non-stop antics, but it didn't occur to me that I wouldn't even be able to convince her to slow down to a physically therapeutic walk!

Help!

Laurie