i have a cotton coat girl too and its just way too much of a pain in the .... to keep her long. her hair grows outward instead of down. i have a madan brush and it really doesn't work for us. i now use it on my own hair, hehe. i use a soft slicker brush and a greyhound comb to keep it tangle free. I shave her armpits to prevent mats and if i have to i elongate the sanitary trim on the belly so it reaches further up the chest to prevent mats there too. She usually wears a collar all the time but if i'm growing her hair out i'll keep the collar off. I too use a harness by Cindy. its great. clothes are a no no with her long hair. she'll mat right up if they're left on for a few hours.
for conditioning sprays i use CC Ice on Ice or The Stuff. both are great.
Your pup is still really young so she just may be going through that difficult puppy hair stage. continue what your doing and brush her a lot. you may be able to get through this stage or you may need to shave her in a month or so and start over.
a good way to know your fighting a losing battle is to watch her hair when you blow dry it. every section of hair parts down to the skin then your mat free. if its clumping and you can't see skin then its matted down deep. only way to fix it is to shave.
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