Those darn mats!

Lillie gets them behind her ears and where her armpits(?) are. I brush her everyday so she is used to me coming at her with the brush. She knows if she stands still in the spot/positon I will be done in no time. So she doesnt move on me. I dont even have to leash her now except when she gets bathed. She can roll in the grass after I get her brushed and dried!!! 

I've got an Aussie mix foster dog here and he gets those crazy pants mats too.  He hates being messed with back there, always has. 

If you can leash the head, you can keep them standing pretty easy.   Just put your hand on the knee and just keep the dog from bending it.

To demat a dog you want to look nice but don't need show pretty - use a comb or mat splitter and comb, and start at the part of the mat farthest from the body.  Start brushing out the hair a teeny bit at a time - if I can use two hands I'll hold the hair back at the skin so I'm not pulling on the dog as I work.  Often I can get a very large mat worked out without having to cut much hair at all - only losing the dead hair felted into the mat, which needs to come out anyway.

This seldom works behind the ears (and it's too painful anyway in this delicate region).  I have a small clipper I use to release these mats, then comb out carefully - saving as much of the hair as possible.

To prevent mats in these long coated dogs, regularly brush the matting areas with the direction of growth, then use a fine comb with the direction of growth, then a coarse comb against the direction of growth, then a finer comb against the direction of growth.  During shedding seasons, go slowly and be patient, only proceeding to the next stage when the brush or comb isn't bringing up dead hair anymore.