For context: I have a 12 year old male Akita, slightly overweight, and my father occasionally breeds and raises them. This Akita was to my knowledge the runt of the litter. His name is Titus.

Titus, like the other dogs we have, is essentially affixed to my mother. He follows her around constantly, seldom taking the time to leave her out of his sight and do his own thing.

The average lifespan of an Akita is 10-12 years. He is the equivalent of a 90 year old, by this metric.

Now the actual scenario: Due to his advanced age, Titus has been quite immobile and lethargic, usually laying down most of the time. He hasn’t been able to do much of anything recently, and his health has rapidly degraded. We moved to a new house a few days ago, which probably has him stressed out. He has been trying to constantly follow my mother around incessantly, however, he has been hurting trying to do so. He won’t ever lay down to rest, and I’m guessing is because he has a joint problem.

His health has been rapidly deteriorating. My parents want to put him down. I do not.

They think that, due to the misery he is in, he had a long and good life and is ready to die. They think it’s time for him to be put down so that he doesn’t have to live in misery anymore.

I think that he needs to go to the vet first, and to be firmly adjusted to the new environment of the new house. The symptoms he has been experiencing is, I believe, expected for the nature of the scenario. I think he needs to be more thoroughly examined by a vet and receive proper treatment to improve the quality of his life, instead of heading to the last resort. She ended up making a full recovery. I think that Titus can make it at least several months more with a proper treatment.

However, my parents think that this is just me being attached, and as a result, my desire for him to live means he has to live in misery. For some reason, they are totally opposed to getting him veterinary treatment. My father thinks that because he breeds Akitas, that he is familiar with their physiology and is adept in addressing health issues for them. He has been relatively successful up until this point. I think that this time he needs to relinquish his control over the issue to a vet.

Am I being selfish and prolonging the suffering of my dog for not wanting him to be put down?

Am I the asshole here?