Though he was fighting constantly, Renteria's grandma gave him another chance. Moving into her house, he started college again, at Cal State Long Beach, and began working as a bartender.

“I was earning a 3.0, which was amazing compared to my 1.7 high school average. At first, I was a business major, but I had to switch to history because I couldn’t do calculus. I later learned that it was due to my brain injuries. I couldn’t remember any short-term information," he said.

Around the time he enrolled in college, Renteria also began opening up about his problems. He was diagnosed with PTSD and TBI, and started occupational and physical therapy that gave him coping mechanisms to help him in his daily life.

“I was doing better, but I wasn’t actually feeling better,” said Renteria.“I still desired violence. I had tools to keep it repressed, but I still had that desire.”

A Mass Shooting Triggers a Setback

He lived like this until 2012, until the movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colo.

“When the guy shot up the theater in Colorado, it was a huge trigger for me,” Renteria said. “One of my biggest fears is being killed without being able to defend myself. When that happened, it really set me back, because I knew that it could happen anywhere.”

At this point, Renteria’s family knew he needed help. His mom remembered hearing about an organization called Pets for Vets, which matched veterans with specially trained service dogs that could help them cope with their PTSD and live a more normal life.

“Veterans can feel very isolated,” Dr. Kerner said. “They come from an intense war zone, and return home where no one understands what they went through. Having a dog that provides unconditional love can help them adjust.”

“They have to relearn how to behave in common social situation,” Kerner added.

The organization matched Renteria with a white Korean Jindo named Rakassan, though he was far from what the veteran was expecting.

“I wanted something intimidating and scary,” he said. “I was expecting a big scary German shepherd, but they come with this 30-pound white dog who was jumping all over me. My first thought was ‘What am I going to do with this?’”

Despite his reservations, he stuck with Rakassan, and within a year, he said, his life has turned around.

“It’s been completely beyond what I expected,” Renteria said. “If I’m ever in a situation where there might be violence, I would rather take my dog and go home than fight. The other therapies gave me tools to manage my PTSD, which was good, but I wasn’t getting better. I was still disconnected from everyone around me, until I got Rakassan.”

A Different Type of Service Dog

Registed PTSD service dogs like Rakassan are afforded all of the same rights as other service animals, such as seeing eye dogs. Renteria can take him anywhere, ensuring that Rakassan is right by his side whenever he needs him.

“These dogs create a sense of safety,” Kerner explained. “When deployed, the veteran’s world isn’t safe. Their life was threatened moment to moment. Returning home, they have trouble adjusting.”

Renteria said Rakassan helps him adjust better than any therapy ever did.

“He can sense when I’m not doing so well,” Renteria said. “There’s no real command for it, but he responds to my emotions and gives me a little more attention than he normally would. Sometimes he tugs on my leash to remind me he’s there. I’ll kneel down and he’ll start licking my face, and it just brings me back into the world.”

“When vets have a PTSD reaction, their body gets very excited,” said Kerner. “Their heart starts to race and they begin breathing very quickly. Petting a dog is naturally relaxing. It slows their heart rate and lowers their blood pressure

Rakassan and other PTSD dogs serve as anchors for veterans, Kerner noted, and help keep them from having flashbacks to their time in war zones.

“They can be standing in the middle of a supermarket, but to them, it can feel like a combat zone,” she explained. “Service dogs can help ground the individual and bring them back into reality. Petting the dog and realizing the dog is there, they realize they aren’t in a combat zone.”

Because Renteria doesn’t have a physical disability, he often gets stopped when he tries to bring Rakassan into a restaurant or other place where dogs aren’t normally allowed.

“I always get stopped and asked if he’s a service dog, but I just show them his state certification and it’s usually not a problem,” he said. “He’s very well behaved, he’s trained to be out in public.”

Veteran and Dog: Yin and Yang

Renteria admitted that he felt weird when he first took Rakassan out, because he didn’t feel disabled. But the closer he and Rakassan got, the more he realized how badly he needed him.

“I know he’s not a seeing-eye dog,” Renteria said. “He’s not accommodating a physical disability. But he doesn’t just keep me safe, he keeps everyone else safe. It’s scary for people to hear that, because they don’t understand what I was like before I got him.”

“If I didn’t have him,” Renteria added, “I’d probably be in jail.”

Ultimately, Renteria believes that Rakassan is yin to his yang – the balance he needed in his life.

“He’s the antithesis of aggression,” said the veteran. “He’s the antithesis of negativity. As aggressive as I can be, he is the complete opposite.”

“Had I gone out and picked a dog myself, I wouldn’t have picked Rakassan,” he added. “Rakasaan somehow, someway, entrenched himself into my soul, and has made me better. I don’t want to fight anymore. I’d rather take my dog home and cuddle. He reduces my symptoms one lick at a time.”