[Lady of Yorkies]

My mother raised poodles. At times we picked up some very, very, VERY matted dogs. Sometimes you just can't get those matts out without making the skin sore underneath from all the pulling. What I learned is to go from the bottom of the matt, not next to the body or from the sides of the matt and snip into the matt with a pair of scissors. If you cut next to the body you will have a big hole where the hair doesn't hang. If you cut into the sides of the matt it will look like a hatchet job. Just little snips from the bottom so as to leave the hair as long as possible. Then comb until you aren't making progress any more and snip again. If you do it right you usually can't tell where the matt was. It does take practice. Hope this helps someone.