Should/Could they play together? (longish)

[dafzichu]

Just some background. Mindy loves other dogs.
Bunni, on the other hand, has a mixed past. When Brutis was alive , he was very dog aggressive and dominant, and when he would start a fight with another dog, although reluctant, Bunni would join in. She has never started a fight, even with him, although would protect herself from him. On several occassions where she was alone, we was able to play quite harmoniously and happily with another dog.
After Brutis ran off to the bridge, we started to just put up gates between Mindy and Bunni and at first Bunni would growl, but with some correction and with some positive reinforcement, that quickly passed and now Bunni is usually at the gate waiting to see Mindy every morning. They seem to really like each other alot, they kiss through the gate, always wagging their tails. When Mindy is play, Bunni whines like she wants to play too. Should we even be thinking about allowing them together? Should we just lift the gate or should we walk them outside together or keep them on leashes in the same room while we watch tv at night? We are avid birdwatchers and in the nice weather we frequent the local parks. Mindy always goes, but now that Bunni has her cart, we would also like to take Bunni along. So at the very least, we would like to have them be able to walk side by side.

Two other things, Bunni is unsteady on her feet, she may have DM and Mindy is the proverbial bull in the china shop, so I could only see them being together while Bunni is in her doggie cart, so that she didn't get hurt. The other thing, Mindy and I have lived here for the past six months, but in January we are finally going back home, but will visit extremely often, not sure if that will make any difference at all.

So what kind of advise do you guys have for me. Appreciate your help ahead of time.

 

[ELubas]

When in doubt I always try a leash walk first. I have an aggressive girl but on leash she does well and eventually accepts the other dog as her buddy. I would go slow as Bunni needs to be protected. Mindy could, in her playful glee, bump Bunni and set off a fight, and that is a fight Bunni is not up for. I would try a walk and make sure you let Bunni say "Hi" if she is being a good girl. They may be fine together

 

[dafzichu]

Tonight we had them in the same room on leashes. They were relatively close together. Mindy was much calmer then I expected and was passed out alseep on the floor in no time. Bunni was noticably anxious at first, but within 15 minutes or so was lying down asleep less then a body length from Mindy. They were also throwing calming signals, so that is good as well. Overall, things looked good. I think we are going to continue this and also try walking outside to how that goes.