Simba, I imagine, would have different reactions to being transformed based on specific times in life. Relevant to this piece, if he somehow wound up transformed in the short timeframe between being "exiled" by Scar and meeting Timon and Pumbaa (like in this story here by Monkey-Scientist, https://www.deviantart.com/monkey-scientist/art/The-Cir...), he'd feel so lost and (for lack of a better term) broken that he'd accept anything that pointed his life in some sort of direction, including being turned into a Golden Retriever. Weather or not he'd regret it later in life, though...