My Rottweiler Dakota needs ACL surgery

So I know this has nothing to do with photography but I wanted to reach out to my readers who may have had similiar issues with their dogs.  The other day we were out playing fetch and she came back to me with the ball limping.  I thought she may have twisted her leg or something.  So I waited a few days and she didn’t look like she was getting better so I took her into the vet today to see what was going on.  After some tests they determined that its a definite ACL injury and if its not treated the other ACL may go out soon because she is putting all her weight on the other leg.  She weighs about 100 pounds so she is a big girl.  I have read many stories about vets always saying surgery is needed but I have gone to this vet for years and have a lot of trust in their opinions.  The vet even refered me to a specialist in Sun Valley Idaho who is a bit cheaper and does this type of orthopedic surgery all day long.   I am getting many estimates for surgery costs on the high end $3000.00 and on the low end coming in about $900.00 depending on the type of surgery.  I guess there are 3 different ways to repair an ACL injury and all with different costs.  Dakota is a very active girl and I want to give her back her freedom to run around and have a pain free life.  There are websites out there who say don’t rush the surgery see what happens and others saying do the surgery now to prevent other injuries to the other side.  I tend to believe she might damage the other ACL if I wait to long.  She is also very young she is only 2 1/2 years old.  So if anyone has any information at all from experience with their own dog it would be greatly appreciated.