If you have a 19 month old male and a 11 month old female should you keep them separated or can you allow them to be together? Winter is coming and temperatures get nasty here so I plan on having them inside during the extreme temperatures.

Come next spring I will be starting my male, he'll be two years of age, so my question is, will allowing them to be friends under my supervision affect or hinder my males willingness to start, his performance, his attitude? Will this also affect my female when she's ready?

One friend says they should be kept separated while another says he doesn't see the harm allowing them to interact. I've read about good working dogs that were friendly with other dogs in the yard but knew when to flip the switch when hunting. I don't have much experience with young unstarted dogs and don't want to hinder my males or females mindset in any way.

Hope this wasn't a dumb question, any opinions and thoughts would be appreciated.