Okay, his name is really Simba. He's a tibetan spaniel and a rescue dog. His previous owner had a stroke and was unable to care for him after that. So my boyfriend and I took him in at over 9 years of age.
He is now turning 11 on December 30th, but it has been quite the struggle to get here.
When he first arrived he was very skeptical of us (typical tibbie behavior), so it took about 2 weeks before he could fully trust us. He never really played with other dogs though and was afraid of being touched on the side of his belly.
One day, when he was in our backyard he started screaming out of pain sitting down as if he had tried to poop but couldn't. My boyfriend and I immediately called the vet. Of course, it was on a Sunday and only the animal emergency hospital was open.
They took x-rays and concluded there could be something stuck in his intestines. He got some laxatives and we were told to wait a day or two and see if he could get what was stuck in his intestines out naturally. It didn't happen, so we went to our regular vet on Tuesday. She could actually feel that there was something abnormal in his belly and wanted Simba to undergo surgery to remove whatever it was. She was afraid it could be a tumor.
It turned out it was one of Simba's testicles that never dropped when he was younger. It had gotten all twisted and swollen to the size of a tennisball (instead of being the size of a thumb nail)! It was all purple and black because the blood could flow in but not out...
After the removal of the unexpected testicle, Simba was a whole new dog! He now loves to play with other dogs - especially puppies! He also loves to cuddle and get a good bellyrub.
He still doesn't really care much for strangers though, but that's just the tibbie in him, and I don't mind. It makes me feel a lot more special for being one of the few people he actually trusts and loves.