By
Taryn Plumb |
GLOBE CORRESPONDENT
SEPTEMBER
21, 2014
Wendy Maeda/Globe Staff
Affectionate,
protective, patient, empathetic, with a set of floppy, expressive
ears and a penchant for walks and jumping on trampolines, Halo the
schnoodle is like the daughter Sherry Gordon-Shulik never had (she’s
the mother of three grown sons).
And
that even surprised the Andover schoolteacher herself.
“I
never knew my life was going to change so much by welcoming a dog
into our house,” Gordon-Shulik said of the 11-year-old dark and
curly-haired dog, a mix between a schnauzer and a poodle. “It was
almost like our family was complete.”
It’s
no revelation to say that Americans love their four-legged
companions: The canine industry in this country exceeds $65 billion,
and roughly 72 million households have at least one dog, according to
petcarerx.com.
Growing
among that number are what are known as hybrids or “designer”
dogs – a cross between two breeds that may cost 25 to 50 percent
more than their purebred lineages.
Susan
Vernon-Gerstenfeld of Newton grew up with all kinds of dogs, but once
she learned about the cockapoo — a mix of cocker spaniel and poodle
— she was smitten.
“This
is the best dog we’ve had,” she said of 5-year-old Brandon, a
15-pound black-and-white cockapoo she purchased from Erin Nagle, who
breeds them on Cape Ann.
“He’s
just a loveable little guy,” she said, calling him funny, easily
trained, and possessing “an incredible vocabulary.”
“We
wanted a cuddly, neat, non-alpha dog,” said Vernon-Gerstenfeld, an
adjunct professor at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. “Brandon is
all of those things.”
Although
they number more than 500 different types with such playful names as
alusky, pookimo, and shih-mo, none are yet accepted by the American
Kennel Club – where some breeds’ pedigrees stretch back multiple
centuries – and they are sometimes slung with such pejoratives as
“mutts” and “frankendogs.”
But
breeders insist that the goal is to bring out the best of the two
parent breeds, while minimizing recessive genetic dysfunctions
inherent in some purebreds.
“Regardless
of whether a purebred or hybrid, you need to be careful about who
you’re crossing with whom, and be very deliberate about what traits
you’re trying to anchor,” said Nagle, who runs Erin’s
New England Cockapoos,
raises the puppies in her home, and now breeds cockapoo to cockapoo.
One
of the most consistent parent breeds is the poodle, which is known
for being a lower-shed dog; it spawned two of the first and most
popular hybrids: cockapoos and labradoodles (a mix with a Labrador
retriever).
But
new breeds are emerging all the time – including the “brat,”
(Boston terrier-American rat terrier) and the “bassetoodle,”
(basset hound-poodle) – as recorded by such organizations as the
International
Designer Canine Registry and
the Designer Dogs Kennel Club.
Rob
Halpin, director of public relations at MSPCA-Angell,
doesn’t care what kind of dog people choose, as long as they visit
a shelter and consider adopting a homeless pet before buying.
“We
can’t tell people what kind of dog to get – people are free to
acquire any kind of dog that they want,” he said. “We understand
there are some traits, whether aesthetic or behavior-related, that
people want to turn up or turn down. Our hope, always, is that people
will adopt a dog before buying a dog.”
At
its three shelters across the state, more than 60 percent of dogs are
pitbull-types, as well as larger mutts. Few hybrids are surrendered,
and they generally don’t last long, Halpin said.
“We
see some, but they’re the exception, not the rule,” Halpin said.
“When they come in, they get snatched up pretty quickly because
they’re so rare.”
As
Nagle noted, pretty much whenever any breed is mixed with a poodle,
“something magical happens,” because poodles are known for their
high level of intelligence, personality, and athleticism.
Cockapoos
weigh 10 to 30 pounds, depending on their lineage, and are typically
“tolerant, goofy, sweet, and cuddly,” Nagle said. They also are
low-shedding — making them more appealing to those with allergies —
and low-odor. However, she stressed, “hypoallergenic they’re
not,” nor are other breeds that claim to be, because all dogs shed.
“I’ve
grown up my entire life with dogs – poodles, Maltese, cocker
spaniels, and collies,” she said. But “when I saw my first
cockapoo, I was just wowed by the combination of portability,
adorable physical features, and the quick, smart, playful, wonderful
personality. I found that combination of traits in one adorable
little package to be too irresistible for me.”
She
bred her first cockapoo, Lily, in the 1990s, and sells them now for
about $2,000. She does regular genetic testing to make sure her
puppies are healthy, and has a personal and intensive process for
matching dogs and their human parents based on factors such as
temperament and activity level.
“There
are a lot of dogs out there that have no homes,” she said, so if
she’s going to put new dogs out into the world, she wants to make
the most “intelligent, informed match.”
Given
the sheer variety of breeds, Gordon-Shulik didn’t quite know where
to begin when looking for a puppy.
A
couple of informal online tests matched her family 98 percent with a
schnoodle, based on their desire for a lap dog that was low-shed
because nearly all family members have asthma. Testimonies helped,
too – a friend called it “the most perfect dog.”
“They
really don’t take that much work and they give you so much more,”
said Gordon-Shulik, a teacher at Temple Emanuel in Andover. “My
husband didn’t want [dogs] at all, and now we’ll never be without
two.”
Halo,
she said, is bright, serious, coy, empathetic – she recalled how
she “hugged” a friend’s cocker spaniel that she could sense was
dying – and is also a “loving, nurturing, protective mom” to
her fellow canine mixed-breed housemate, Frankie.
“My
father always would tell us that children who were multicultural got
the best of both worlds,” said Gordon-Shulik. “I think it’s the
same with dogs that are cross-bred. They get the best out of both
worlds.”
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