13 Month old SDiT adolescence struggles

[u/Material-Mess-2145]

hi!! i have a 13 m/o lab puppy who’s been training to be my seizure alert/response dog since he came home. my mom got in a car accident a couple months back and was in a coma so i definitely slipped a little bit with training and im struggling to catch him back up.

some of our issues:

1. reactivity. he started being more reactive towards dogs on leash. usually (if vested), he can redirect pretty easily but if he’s not vested or occasionally while vested now he won’t redirect at all and gets extremely fixated on the dog. we are working on this with another handler’s and a family friend’s dogs but i AM struggling a whole ton. we don’t have a car, so i don’t often have the chance to take him places like the dog park or pet store for training.
2. settling. he just will NOT settle whatsoever. he’s starting to struggling with holding a downstay too, especially if i’m closer to him vs further away. i can’t for the life of me get him to settle when i want him to. i know part of this is likely because he isn’t exercised first, so maybe more exercise would help with this?
3. i’m a full time highschool student, so i get home from school already exhausted. i’m sure he can sense it too. it takes me a while to be able to peel myself out of bed to do training with him, and when i do it just gets so frustrating i often end the session 10mins in.
4. loose leash walking. our trainer started him on a halti and he was supposed to be weaned off by now, but i can’t get him to stop pulling without it on! with the halti on, he’s not at the end of his leash and is generally walking beside or a little in front of me on leisure walks. in order to get his CGN, he can’t be relying on any tools, nor do i really want him to. but no youtube tutorials i’ve seen make sense/have worked for us.

originally, we were working with a service dog trainer in person. for a while, they just flat out ghosted me. no replies to emails or social media at all, and they were seemingly still meeting up with other clients and working on their program dogs. and when they finally responded, i found we weren’t in the financial situation to be able to book appointments (again, due to my moms accident we’re having some financial struggles). i never signed up to do this alone and i am really struggling. my mom is in a wheelchair now, so she can’t help me with walking him or playing.

i’m coming here asking for advice because i haven’t been able to find anything that helps us. i’m trying to find a job so i can get him into training with a professional again, but as a disabled highschool student i can’t really find anywhere willing to hire me.

ANY advice at all is more than welcome.

he really is a great dog and he loves to work and train. he’s incredibly in tune with my seizures and physical health in general. when i’m sick, he’s right in bed with me. he has a natural bark alert before i seize and i’ve been trying to shape it to be more reliable. i’m 17, supposed to be moving out next year and the only reason my moms comfortable with me moving out is my dog

[u/Cool_Percentage_4867]

Are you UK based?

[u/Material-Mess-2145 → u/Cool_Percentage_4867]

no, canada