Wow...I feel stupid. I didn't even think about shaving her belly! Now that she is mat free I am going to try and maintain it. I keep her brushing sessions to removing only one or two knots at a time. I think her harness is what is causing some of them (come on chattiesmom!! I'm DYING for my new harness!! I'm sure it will TOTALLY be worth the wait :p) Thanks so much for your help. I reserve cheese strictly for grooming time, so she knows when the cheese comes out, it times for work!

I know it is a lot of work but I love the long coats. Pixie is a dream, thin silky coat, my other 2 are cottony and thick so I shave their tummies and sometimes their legs if they get badly matted and have even cut out bad mats on their bodies and you really can't tell.

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.

Try some No More Tangles spray on conditioner while you are brushing. It will help the tangles come out. You can also buy the stuff special for dogs. I have John Paul Instant Detangling Spray for Pets that works well. If you have a bad mat, try rubbing a little Cowboy Magic Detangler or some "The Stuff" (really that is the product name) on it. It is slimy and will let you just pull the mat apart. It needs rinsed out though the Detangler sprays do not. I have also read that a little corn meal rubbed into a mat will allow it to release too.

If your baby is still a puppy, it may get a lot better as she ages. Rocky is almost 6 months old now and he is still matting up easily. Ben did that as a puppy too but now has a silky coat that will occasionally tangle but rarely get a mat. I have gotten too lax on Ben though and had to fight a mat or two. Puppies though, you are going to get mats. You really need to use the products to help and then it doesn't hurt them.

Have you tried braiding (which i always think is cute!!), or wrapping her hair for days you need time off from grooming? That should help a little bit!! We always braided Macy on off days (she was actually buried in braids). It made our lives 1000x easier! :)