Doggie Excema? Not a hot spot. Advice?

My 18-month-old havanese has not-a-hot-spot on his thigh. I noticed he was bothering the area about 10 days ago and have kept a careful eye on it daily. He's been bothering it less and less, and he's not chewing or injuring himself as far as I can tell, and it obviously doesn't hurt when I touch or rub it. It's not wet or bright red or anything. BUT, the skin is still reddish and small bits are flaking off. The flakes very small, sort of oval-shaped (but more ragged) with little dots in the middle. I wonder if that's like a scab flaking off (though I didn't see an original injury) or something else.

I clipped away the hair all around so the area can breath, and gave him a lukewarm bath with his fancy hypoallergenic prescription shampoo (he had some topical allergies last fall that went away when I bathed him once a week with the stuff.) The area now looks a lot cleaner.

Anyone ever see anything like this? It seems not to be a huge deal, but it's lasted a while now and would definitely be a big deal if it spread beyond this quarter-sized patch on his thigh. I use frontline and heartguard; he had his yearly checkup and shots and so forth, and I see no evidence of bugs anywhere. Any ideas? Is it time to visit the vet? Etc?

sounds like the puppy mange. if it is just take him to the vet and get a mange dip and it will go away.

Sounds like possibly allergies to me, especially since he has a history of them. Could also be a localized reaction to a flea bite. It's so hard to know without seeing it. Sounds like it's healing but if it's still there in a week or so or seems to bother him, or if another spot pops up, I would bring him to a vet. Is that him in the picture? If so, he's adorable!

what do you feed him?
might be diet related...