Our Golden Retriever pet dog (Bailey) has just had anterior cruciate ligament surgery (On rear knee) yesterday morning & we are looking for guidance as to how we can assist him in having a bowel movement without causing him any distress?
Can someone please help?

Try slinging a towl under his belly and supporting him by holding the ends of the towel ;)

Good idea digger, we just supported our boy by hand and he was quite a big dog.  He was carried out to the toilet for the first 3 days then decided he could do it for himself.  A little moving around will help keep fluid build up around the op site from becoming a problem.  It was a very long convalescence though 6 weeks garden exercise and then six months lead walking outside.  Worth it in the end, complete recovery.

Following on from my Dad's experience when his Springer was in an RTA and broke his back and pelvis - gentle excercise also helps to keep the digestive tract moving, and the pressure from the towel also helps express the bladder and bowel.

Diggers idea really works brilliant, we did this with our newf and we had no problem holding her even though she was about 7 stone at the time. If its anything like ours you will amazed at just how quickly they are able to go to the loo with no aid.

Good luck