What happens after the Puppy Coat?

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Spud is a mat at 7.5 months. I heard it was coming--the blowing of the puppy coat. I had actually worked so hard to keep up with the mats I pulled the skin off his ear this week :( So I completely shaved him down from ear to rear.

My questions:
What happens after they blow these coats. Do they continue to mat this bad all through adulthood or is this just a one time issue?
How long does this last?

UPDATE:
Thank you all for your responses. I forgot to add that above that Spud is F1b and I believe ( guessing from what I have read ) that his coat is a curly spiral fleece. But he does have a variety to his coat.

I joined this group months ago, although, I thought since I purchased Cowboy Magic, Mane and Tail, A Les Pooche Brush, and a rake, and if I remained diligent I would never need to worry or have to post an SOS for advice. HA HA I am so glad you are all out there though. :)

[Kyoko]

I was brushing her and brushing her every day faithfully. I took her matts are part with dematting blade, and brushed her out with slicker brush and combed her out. It was taking an hour, hour and half each day, with her coat being 3 1/2 ~ 4 inches long and soooo thick.... I finally took her to Roxanne - Groomer - to get them shortened, because it was not making any senses any more.....
She now has what they called it Lamb clip or something like that. She looks like a straight up poodle now, but cute!!! Only thing was that she seemed to be cold...( Pittsburgh now is about 50 some degrees ) So, I got her a sweater.