When to feed and free grazing V fixed meal times?

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

As Riley approaches one year old next week there are a couple of food related issues I am trying to iron out right now.  He used to eat twice a day up to the last couple of months.  Now he won't touch anything until  about 4  O'Clock in the afternoon and I have been giving him his second meal at about 8pm.  I am now thinking that perhaps I should feed him one meal at about 5 pm or alternatively put the full amount down in the morning and let him graze through the day.  It doesn't matter whether I put toppers on his food or not he just isn't interested until later in the day and then he politely eats the lot.

Another question I have is regarding flavors.  I am feeding him the adult Orijen and am considering buying the other varieties for a change to alternate.  Is there any potential problem with that and would it also be ok if occasionally I used the Acana grain free varieties or would that cause potential tummy adjustment problems as I know the % differentials are different to Orijen with a lower protein content

* UPDATE *

I tried the free feeding for a few days and because Riley didn't eat until later in the day he threw up bile a couple of times.  I'm presuming this is because he had nothing in his stomach so I have reverted to feeding him in the morning with a topper to get him to eat and in the evening I'm just giving him his kibble.  This has worked perfectly so I will continue with this.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Luca often doesn't eat till around the same times as you are feeding Riley. I would let him graze but Calla has to be kept from eating his food so if he doesn't eat in the morning I lock his food in his crate til later in the day--when I remember that is  : ) 

I rotate through the grain free Acana types but I haven't fed Orijen. I haven't had any trouble rotating within brands in the past either, when I fed Solid Gold, or Fromm. Sometimes there was a little adjustment between brands but not a lot for my dogs.

[Cheri & Bonny]

Sounds like my dog as well -- guess some of us are "lucky" to have dogs that aren't food obsessed, but then it makes it harder to give them medicine!

I put 1/2 the daily food in her bowl in the morning.  Some days she eats it, other times not.  Then around 6 I put the other 1/2 in her dish.  She'll usually then finishes it all.  I could probably put it all out in the morning, but I'm just used to doing it this way.

We rotate through two flavors of Orijen and Acana grain free (she didn't like all the flavors).  I transitioned her the first few times (as one bag got low, I mixed some of the new bag in with it) but I don't bother now at all.  I generally do a bag of Orijen and then a bag of Acana -- the main reason is the cost difference between the two.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Ned rarely eats when I put his food down.  He prefers to eat alone, at night, in the dark so usually we hear him munching after lights out!  We set his food down when we feed the other dogs in the morning and again in the evening and let it sit.  Since he is not food obsessed, I am not that careful with his portions like I am with the other dogs.  If you do let Riley graze you do need to be aware of how much you are feeding him so that you don't overfeed.

[BG and Gavin]

Gavin grazed from the time he was a puppy, but likey Riley was not eating until later and later.  Problem was he would then throw up bile in the morning due to an empty stomach.  Soo I began feeding him twice a day with tippers to entice him to eat and prevent the barfing.  If not for that, I would have just continued with the grazing.  He just eats what he needs anyway - sometimes there is a little kibble left in his bowl, sometimes alot and sometimes none.

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

I have 1 cat that likes to graze - but I cant leave it out or the other cats will eat it. Thankfully you dont have that problem with Riley. I think if you measure out the portion you could leave it down - several small meals are better than 1 large meal in my opinion (bloat, digesting etc).

Cooper started to loose interest in food around 1 year 4 months, she just needed smaller portions as she wasnt growing so fast.

I have also rotated Cooper through different Orijen and grain free Acana, she had no problems