Black poodle w/ skin problem

Question
Our black toy poodle Boomer( 2yrs) has always had a little bit of a licking disorder. He had had a habit of licking his front legs until the hair fell off, but has stopped and his hair has returned. He has now started licking right at and beside his belly button. It has turned into a dark raised patch, which is slightly red around the patch. He has also licked one of his "nipples" so that it is slightly swollen also. I don;t think it is painful because he doesn't complain if we touch that area, but when he goes to sleep and sometimes through out the day he licks it a lot. When he is not licking it , it looks dry. What can we do to help him?

Answer
Sounds like you poodle is suffering from allergies.  Now these can be food induced allergies so you would want to try changing his food.  Some brands of food even have sensitive skin formulas.  Or it could be an external allergy.  To perhaps his shampoo or any spray on stuff the groom may be using.  I would let your groom know and ask her to try and sensitive skin shampoo for dogs with allergies.