general medical and training question?

Question
My name is Ryan.  I own two German shepherds, one male, one female.  The female is about a year.  The male Rex is 10 years old.  He has obviously reached a ripe old age for a normal shepherd.  He currently has a cist on his left side and he has another problem.  He has been losing hair.  About a month back Rex and Brandy, the female, both had fleas.  Rex had them on his legs and he has sores from biting.  I thought that he chewed and pulled out his hair but too much is falling out for him to be chewing it all.  He sheds a ton.  He also has spots all over his back from hair loss.  The skin is black and red.  I thought maybe because of the recent flea attack that he was chewing still thinking he has them.  They both might still have fleas for all I know.  I have recently noticed that Brandy has a bald spot on her back side.  She has been chewing at it, and it is getting worse each day.  I tell her to stop when I catch her chewing but it doesn't seem to stop her.  I am planning on taking them to the vet soon to see what they say, but if you have any ideas on what is going on with the hair loss or what to do before heading to the vet, please let me know.  My grandmother said it could be mange, but i am not completely sure of that.  Any help is much appreciated.

Answer
Hi Ryan. It sounds like they both have flea allergies. Some dogs get driven CRAZY by flea bites. One of the main spots they go after is the base of their tail & their back. The BEST remedy for fleas is Frontline. This can be purchased from your vet. This is a once a month topical application you apply to the dogs back. BE SURE to have your vet show you the proper way to apply this to the dogs. Be sure not to bathe them 2 days before & 2 days after you apply the Frontline. If they are inside dogs, you will need to treat the house also. You can purchase a flea bomb from your vet also. Be sure there are NO animals in the house if you do this. You can also give them some regular Benadryl to help ease the itching. They come in 25mg capsules & you can get them from Wal-Mart. Be sure it's plain Benadryl. You can give them 3-4 25mg capsules up to 3 times daily. Definitely treat them with the Frontline as soon as possible & keep up with it every month. Let me know if I can do anything else!
-Heather