Dog's Hair Mats and Hot Spots.

[crackerjack4u2]

Hello, I have a dog that is right at a year old.  She is a Shitzu/ Pomeranian  mix and looks so pretty with long hair.  My problem is I Can Not keep the mat's out of her hair.  I brush then comb her 2 times a day and am sure she is mat free, and, I kid you not, within 30 mins she will be matted again.  Her hair is more like sheep's wool than dog hair.  I have never had a problem keeping the mats out of any dog's hair, until now.  I generally just keep her shaved, which is so much easier but, with winter coming I'd like to let her hair grow out.

When bathing her I brush her out first, then give her a bath.  I've started using a small amount of conditioner and the spray type detangler.  I also bought her a Furminator which is suppose to detangle and remove the under coat, thereby helping eliminate tangles and shedding.  Nope the Furminator Does Not help one bit.  
Does anyone have any solutions to help with this problem?    

Also she has a hot spot that is scabbed over and appears to be healing, but she licks at it frequently keeping it irritated.  I attempted to shave the hair around the hot spot, but she would jump, snap, and cry before I had even touched it, so I left it alone.    I've never had this prob with any of my other dogs.  Any solutions for the hair problem and/or the best treatment for her hot spot would be appreciated  Thank You.

[crackerjack4u2]

Hello I got some good news today at the vet.  My one dog with the tumor looking areas that I was afraid had cancer is doing fine.  The hard knotty areas on the breast and right side are fatty tumors instead of cancerous tumors YEAH.  

The spot on my other dog that I suspected was a hot spot, was indeed just that.  We were loaded up with a bag of antibiotics, and Panalog cream treatment, so keep your fingers crossed that we will all be living comfortably soon.  

Thank you for your response and suggestions they were really appreciated.  

Have A Wonderful Day and God Bless.  

[crackerjack4u2]

Hello thank you for the suggestions on eliminating the hot spot problem, I will definitely try the changes to see if that will do the trick.   The hot spot is actually a new issue, this is the first time she has had one and it started 4-5 days ago.  I read several posts that said 5 drops of Brandy nightly will eliminate the hot spots within a few days, so I'm going to ask my vet what she thinks about this, too.  

I'm taking another of my doggies to the vet this afternoon because of a possible tumor on her right hip and right breast that just seemed to sprout up overnight a couple of days ago. I'm hoping the areas are merely inflammation lodging in those areas from her arthritis, but better to be safe than sorry.  I'm going to take my little hot spot Angel with me to the visit and get it checked, too.  

The grooming problem, or should I say nightmare, has always been an issue the entire time I've had her.   Again Thank you for your suggestions.  Have A Wonderful Day!

[teko]

I would only add that it seems like the itching was aggravated after putting my dog on comfortus for fleas. I have since discontinued that as well, after reading about the number of fatalities and problems others were having with it.