THIS story's a real balltearer.

A 39-year-old US man, who is paralysed from the waist down, recently adopted a "small, white, fluffy" stray dog to be his loving companion.

The new relationship went swimmingly for about three weeks, until the dog chewed off one of his new owner's testicles.

Said owner awoke at 7:45am on Monday morning to a "burning pain" in his midsection, reports KAIT8.com.

Looking down, he noticed that "the dog had eaten one of his testicles". The dog was still between his legs with blood on its muzzle and teeth.

Luckily, as the man told police, he has no feeling whatsoever from the waist down. Hey, you have to find the silver lining in these situations.

Police had the dog euthanised at a local vet, and its head was sent to the Arkansas Department of Health to be tested for rabies. Yes, just its head, because the day's events weren't gruesome enough already.

The man didn't know whether the dog had been vaccinated.

He was taken to the aptly named St Bernard's Regional Medical Centre for treatment.