How do you trim matted ears?

[sandy b]

Help!! Max has matts on both ears. My fault for not brushing as I should. So now I think I'll have to cut a few out. That said I would also like to shorten them (they hang in his water bowl)!! Any suggestions?
Thanks.

[F, Calla & Luca]

When Luca's ears matted I just cut out the mats leaving as much as I could. Then I trimmed around the shape of his ear flap carefully holding the ear flap itself so that i couldn't accidentally cut it. You can cut it shorter, and even it out and it looks fine.

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

We had the same issue after swimming, All of a sudden both ears were just full of matts all along the ear flaps. Brushed for a few hours the first night to get some out, but got COWBOY MAGIC Detangler and Shine the next day and the matts just slide right out with brushing. Saved a LOT of hair from being cut out. As for length, I cut with the shape of the ear flap bottom. Kind of U shaped. I'm sure Barb has loads of ideas for you. Good luck

[Pat & "Tucker"]

Sue- with the coyboy majic- how do you apply this? After a bth? just on the mats? Do you use the cream or spray? Sounds like a good product./ Pat

[Diana Allen]

Cagney's are matted along the edges too...fun stuff.... not sure what to do... I am brushing over and over every day now...

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

You can try seperating the hair some with your fingers first, pulling gently away from the matts. Then some brushing, some cutting through the matt with sharp scissors, like slicing a letter open. Some have used those little square letter openers with the blade in them... Then some more brushing. that'll take the loosened hair out so it doesn;t matt too.

Like I said, the cowboy magic was great. Well worth it. only $10.00 for a tube. It;s a cream you rub into the matt., makes it slick and slippery, but not oily.

[Barb @ Gemstone Labradoodles]

Sounds like the others have given good advice for handling the problem. I have one girl whose mattes are so fine that I have to use a flea comb to get them out. I like my ears shaggy, so I cut the basic shape of the ear plus one inch, then angle cut the way they do for people, then finish off with my thinning shears to avoid that just cut look. I just took a picture of one of my girls yesterday because I plan to cut her short in the next week. Here is the before. She was last trimmed in May. I will post when I get her finished.

[sandy b]

Thank you everyone for the advice. I did have Cowboy Magic and used that plus a CC staggered tooth comb and CC T-brush, scissors and lots of treats!! His ears are considerably shorter now but matt free and all that Cowboy magic has made them very silky. Even though I didn't want to cut them so short it was easier - I was getting lost in all the fur.
It's interesting that he is just now starting to matt at 13 months old.
Barb, can't wait to see your after pic, your girl & Max look like twins:-) Could you explain how/where you use the thinning shears? Along the edge or over the entire ear? And any particular brand you're fond of?
Thanks again everyone for all your suggestions.