Dog nippling on fur

My dog is biting/nippling her fur on her lower back around her tail and hind legs. We have noticed small bald patches appearing on her lower back. She has a monthly worm and flea treatment programme. This has never happened before not sure if this is an allergy or infection of some kind Poppy is 9 years old. Any information would be greatly appreciated please.

Hello!  These are typical locations for fleas, so the first thing to do would be to check that your flea treatment is a) one that your vets approve, because not all flea treatmemts are created equal, and b) applied up to date.  Sometimes, if you part the fur, you can see fleas or flea-dirt (small brown specks) but this isn't always the case, because some dogs are so allergic to fleas that they will itch after the briefest of contact.  Another physical possibility would be impacted anal glands - not every dog can reach to nibble their anal glands, so they go for the closest place they can reach.  A third possibility would be spinal or hip arthritis, or another source of pain, as licking or nibbling can feel quite soothing.  Allergies can present like this sometimes, too. For any of these, it looks as though your vet should be your next port of call.

Hello what flea treatment would you recommend please. We are currently using spot on flea treatment at the moment for Poppy. Thanks    

Hi - we recommend different flea treatments for different pets and potential parasite problems.  I would recommend a prescription one that has been prescribed for your specific pet and proven to work, so that there is no space for uncertainty.  This is not true of most supermarket or pet-store products.  In the UK, prescription flea products are available not only from vets, but so from phramacysts (although the pharmacist should do the prescribing, so you know that it's a veterinary approved one, because a lot of drugstores also sell the over the counter versions that don't need to be prescribed and won't necessarily work for a pet with a flea allergy.  Looking at these products, they still say a lot things like 'scientifically proven to kill fleas' and look very convincing, but a professional (vet, nurse or pharmacyst) who is qualified to do so will help you to tell the two types of product apart).   Because this site is sponsored by advertisers, I am not an appropriate person to advise you.  I hope that something here helps.