I'm trying to recall now just why it was I trusted anything the NYT says.
I remember wondering at the time about this. You might know that Schnauzers are double-coated, at least when they're born. You must pluck out the soft undercoat if you want the wiry topcoat to prevail (Show Schnauzers must have the wiry coat.) If you clip the puppy the topcoat will eventually disappear & the undercoat will become the top coat. (This is the case w/most purely-pet Schnauzers.)
Maybe just one of the coats is hypo-allergenic. Do you know which kind your husbands' dogs had?
I too would guess that poodle-type coats (non-oily, non-shedding) would be a better bet than the Schnauzers'. I think I'll go Googling for better info than NYT's.
Hmmmm. I didn't know about the two coats. I don't know what kind his dogs had. Knowing my husband, I'm pretty sure he didn't have any kind of professional show grooming done. I'd guess, based on what you mentioned, that the wiry topcoat isn't allergenic, but the bottom coat can cause problems? If we have dogs in the future, I am planning to do some heavy duty research on the allergy issue, maybe even borrow a dog or two to test my husband's reactions. I had hoped since the boxers are short haired dogs, that the allergy would be less severe, but unfortunately that isn't the case. Luckily for us, the boxers are so much a part of the family that my husband puts up with the discomfort!