Dogs love to pull
And it is not only an activity for sled dogs.
Most dogs love to pull if they get the opportunity to do so. Big, small and everyone in between can pull. If your dog shows little interest in pulling, you can try to engage the dog in pulling and make play of pulling.
And, yes, you should allow the dog to pull, but only with a harness.
Letting the dog pull when attached with a collar can cause injuries to the dog. And it can lead the dog to having problems breathing when pulling.
The benefits of pulling
The benefit of allowing the dog to pull with a harness is that it
will develop and strengthen its muscles.
will be working harder and will increase its heart rate. This again develops and improves the dog's stamina.
The dog's metabolism will increase, thus burning energy more efficiently.
The dog will burn more energy due to increased strain when pulling versus walking nicely on a leash with very little effort spent.
Using a harness
You can see an example of a good harness at Amazon
Using a waist belt will also make it a lot easier on yourself when letting the dog pull. Here is an example of a waist belt at Amazon
What is a well-designed harness?
A well-designed harness is ergonomic for the dog.
The harness will be more comfortable for the dog to wear.
It is especially important that the dog´s shoulders are free when pulling, and it should breathe easily. This will prevent potential shoulder injuries from occurring from blocking free movement of the shoulder joints.
The company Non-stop Dogwear have a very good article explaining this, which you can read more about here.
What activities can you do with your dog when using a harness?
You can do any engaging and exciting activity you like if the dog is on a leash and connected to the harness.
You can read more about what activities you can do with your dog here.