8 Best Puppy Foods in Canada in 2026 – Reviews & Top Picks

Congratulations on welcoming home a new puppy. This exciting and fun time in both of your lives may come with a lot of questions, especially if you’re a first-time dog owner.

“What should my puppy be eating” needs to be the question at the top of your list. While we can’t answer this question for you as the answer depends on many factors, we can provide you with a list of the best puppy foods in Canada to get you started.

Keep reading to read our thorough food reviews and learn everything you need to know about puppy nutrition needs so you’ll be fully prepared to welcome your new pup into your life.

A Glance at Our Top Picks (2026 Update)

Rating	Image	Product	Details
Best Overall		Wellness Small Breed Puppy Food	Kibble promotes dental health Provides complete and balanced nutrition Supports skin and coat health	Check Price
Best Value		IAMS Puppy Recipe	High in protein Antioxidant-rich Boosts brain development	Check Price
Premium Choice		Taste of the Wild Puppy Food	Small kibble size Probiotics for immune health Antioxidant-rich recipe	Check Price
		Pro Plan Puppy Food	Real meat as the first ingredient Probiotics for digestive health Boosts skin and coat health	Check Price
Vet’s Choice		Hill’s Science Diet Puppy Food	Enticing texture and scent for dogs Natural ingredients Single-serve trays for easy serving	Check Price

The 8 Best Puppy Foods in Canada

1. Wellness Small Breed Puppy Food – Best Overall

Wellness Complete Health Small Breed kibble has been formulated to provide all the nutrients a small breed puppy needs to thrive. It features vitamins and minerals like DHA for brain development, calcium for bone growth, vitamin A for healthy eyes, and omega fatty acids to promote skin and coat health. This recipe also features glucosamine for joint health and contains prebiotics to promote proper digestion. The kibble is puppy-sized and crunchy to help keep your dog’s teeth clean.

This food is the best overall puppy food in Canada as it provides the balanced nutrition your puppy needs in a formula crafted to promote whole-body health. Not to mention that it’s made with natural ingredients without any artificial flavoring or colors.

2. IAMS Puppy Chicken Recipe Puppy Food – Best Value

You don’t have to spend a fortune to feed your growing puppy high-quality food. IAMS’ Chicken & Whole Grains Recipe is the best puppy food in Canada for the money, thanks to its affordable pricing and still high-quality formulation. This kibble has been crafted with 22 different nutrients found naturally in your puppy’s mother’s milk. These nutrients are necessary for helping your pooch build strong bones. This formula also has been enriched with antioxidants to help promote a healthy immune system. It features real chicken as the first ingredient, which provides the protein your pup needs for his growing muscles. IAMS also includes omega-3 fatty acids in this recipe which can help your dog’s cognition, boosting his brain health.

3. Taste of the Wild Puppy Food Recipe – Premium Choice

Taste of the Wild is a food company focused on providing dogs with nutrition based on their “ancestral diet”. Their puppy recipe features real meat (water buffalo) as the first ingredient and has an optimal amino acid profile for your growing pup. It features DHA for brain health and probiotics and dried chicory root to promote digestive health. Its unique flavoring comes from roasted meat, veggies, legumes, and fruits, making it highly digestible. Its small-sized kibble is designed for smaller mouths so your puppy shouldn’t have any problems eating or digesting this food. Though this food is more expensive than others on our list, it’s worth the splurge if you’re looking to feed your puppy a premium food to make his puppyhood the healthiest it can be.

This kibble is grain-free. We recommend speaking with your puppy’s vet before putting them on a grain-free diet as it is usually not necessary unless your pet has sensitivities to grains.

4. Pro Plan Puppy Chicken & Rice Dog Food

Pro is made with high-quality protein and features real chicken as the main ingredient. This high-protein recipe is formulated to meet the needs of your puppy’s developing muscles, so he has the energy he needs to play. It has an antioxidant-rich formula to support your growing puppy’s immune system as well as omega fatty acids like DHA to nourish brain health. This kibble has been fortified with live probiotics to boost both immune and digestive health. Vitamin A and omega-6 fatty acids have been added to ensure optimal skin and coat health, too.

5. Hill’s Science Diet Puppy Small Paws – Vet’s Choice

Hill’s Science Diet Puppy Small Paws recipe is our vet-recommended choice for the best puppy food in Canada. This delicious wet food provides your growing small breed puppy with the balanced nutrition he needs to build lean muscles. It features high-quality ingredients that promote healthy digestion and doesn’t contain any artificial flavoring or preservatives. This food comes in a peel-and-serve tray that takes the guesswork out of portion sizes. It’s made with real chicken, brown rice, and specially selected vegetables to not only boost the taste of the recipe but its nutrition level as well.

6. Blue Buffalo Homestyle Recipe Puppy Food

This puppy food from Blue Buffalo features wholesome ingredients that promote a healthy life. With chicken as its first ingredient, this wet food is high in protein to ensure proper muscle development and energy levels. The chicken liver boosts the iron and vitamin A level of the recipe while adding a natural flavoring your dog will love. Carrots provide beta carotene and fiber your dog needs for eye health and proper digestion. This food contains no thickening agents, artificial flavoring, preservatives, or chicken by-product meals and instead focuses on providing the healthiest and whole ingredients your puppy needs to thrive.

7. Royal Canin Canned Puppy Food

Royal Canin’s Puppy Recipe has been designed to meet the nutritional needs of puppies in the 10- to 15-month range. It has been formulated to stimulate the appetite to ensure your dog eats the food it needs during this critical stage of growth. This wet food supports digestive health and promotes optimal stool consistency by providing the perfect balance of fiber and easy-to-digest proteins. It features an antioxidant blend to support your puppy’s developing immune system. The moisture content of this food can also help support your pup’s hydration.

8. EUKANUBA Small Breed Puppy Food

Eukanuba’s small breed puppy formula comes in two different flavors: Chicken or Lamb & Rice. Both recipes feature real meat as the first ingredient, providing your puppy with a hefty dose of healthy protein to boost their lean muscle development. It promotes healthy brain development through the inclusion of DHA. Fat and carbohydrate levels provide concentrated energy your dog needs for both growth and play. This formula features a natural fiber and probiotic blend that will boost their sensitive digestion system. It has the perfect amount of vitamin E to boost immune system health, too. This recipe is designed for dogs who will weigh less than 23 pounds in adulthood.

• Also Read: Eukanuba Dog Food Review: Pros, Cons & Recalls

Buyer’s Guide: How to Select the Best Puppy Food in Canada

Now that you know some of the best puppy foods currently available in Canada, you’re left with the hard decision of choosing which you should try for your puppy. The good news is that you’re never stuck with one particular food for your dog’s entire lifespan. You might even find that your pup gets bored of the same food every day, so variety does appear to be the spice of life—even for dogs.

Before you start your pooch on one of the above foods, keep reading to find more tips on choosing the best food for your specific pup.

Consider Breed Size

While most of the foods we reviewed above are formulated for puppies of all sizes and breeds, some are specifically designed for use by breeds of a certain size.

Small or toy breed dogs have different nutritional requirements than their large and giant breed counterparts. If your dog falls into one of those size categories, you might consider offering them food that’s formulated for their breed size.

Small Breeds

Despite their smaller size, small and toy dog breeds actually need more calories per pound than larger dogs. Small breed puppies, especially toy breeds, are susceptible to hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) because of their high metabolic rate and their low body fat reserves. This means that they need food that is more calorically dense and may need to be fed more often. You should be searching for a diet that is higher in proteins and fat.

Also, keep kibble size in mind as you’re hunting for the best food for your small-breed puppy. Kibble that is too big will be hard to chew and could pose a choking risk.

Large Breeds

Large and giant puppy breeds need their bodies to grow at a proper rate to prevent stressing out developing bones or joints and developing skeletal malformations. Bones that grow too fast will be less dense and weak. When dogs’ bones grow too fast and pack on pounds too quickly, additional strain is added to their bones and joints, which can absolutely wreak havoc on your poor pooch. Developmental Orthopedic Disease (DOD) and disorders like hip dysplasia happen more often in large and giant breed dogs.

A diet with too much dietary fat can cause your puppy to grow faster than his bones can accommodate. The same rule applies to protein; too much can cause a calcium and phosphorus imbalance which can negatively impact bone and joint development. It’s essential that the food you’re feeding your large or giant breed puppy isn’t too high in fat or protein.

Read Food Labels

You don’t need to have a degree in veterinary nutrition to understand the basics of dog food labels. With a basic understanding, you’ll be able to differentiate between high- and low-quality food.

Ingredient Order

Pet food labels, as with human food labels, list the ingredients in descending order by weight. This means that the first few ingredients on your dog’s food label are found in higher quantities than items found lower on the list. You’ll notice that we included the first five ingredients for every one of the foods we reviewed above. We’ve done this so you can see at a glance what each foods’ main ingredients are.

Nutrition Adequacy Statement

Search for the nutritional adequacy statement. You might see phrases like “complete and balanced” or “100% nutrition” on the food label. These phrases mean that the food has met government standards and will provide your pup with a level of nutrition that is complete and balanced for your dog’s life stage. In other words, this food will contain the proper ratio of essential nutrients for the needs of a healthy pooch. Since we’re looking at feeding a puppy, you’ll want to ensure the food you’re offering meets the “growth” life stage or “all life stages”.

Feeding Guidelines

Your dog’s food label will also contain feeding guidelines. Take these directions with a grain of salt. We recommend talking with a veterinarian if you have any questions about how much to feed your puppy. Up to 30% of North American dogs are considered obese, so it is important to get your puppy off on the right start by ensuring you’re feeding him appropriate quantities to prevent obesity.

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Product Name

You should also pay close attention to the name of your dog’s food. Manufacturers are sly and can legally use certain terminology to confuse consumers. If your dog’s food name contains a source of protein (e.g., “beef” or “chicken”), that means that that protein must make up at least 70% of the entire product. If the name includes “dinner,” “entrée,” or “platter,” (e.g., “beef dinner” or “chicken entrée”), it is only required that the protein source in question make up at least 10% of the entire product. If the title of the food includes the word “flavor” (e.g., “beef flavor” or “chicken flavor”), it means that there is enough of that protein to add flavoring, but it will only make up less than 3% of the entire product.

Our Selection Process For Puppy Foods in Canada

To create this buyer’s guide, our writing team and editorial staff checked customer reviews, brand reputation, and veterinary approval ratings to present the puppy foods we think should be highlighted for our readers. In some cases, we conducted hands-on testing along with seeing how much our dogs liked the puppy foods. All these factors were considered when selecting these listed puppy foods to help you make the best purchase for your furry friends.

Why Trust Dogster?

Since 2004, Dogster has been a trusted brand for dog owners online, which means we have a lot of experience with puppy foods. We take pride in promoting the well-being of all dogs—from toy breeds to giant canines. Our in-house veterinarians, writers, and editors examine each product on our lists, ensuring its quality and reputation. As pet owners ourselves, we only want the best for our furry companions. At Dogster, we are transparent about the products we promote. The nutritional information, overall brand reputation, and customer reviews are all considered for these lists. We inform you how we want to be informed.

Conclusion

For the best overall puppy food in Canada, Wellness Complete Health provides a nutritionally dense and all-natural formula. The best value food comes from IAMS thanks to its focus on healthy cognition and affordable price. For a premium puppy food, Taste of the Wild provides a high-quality, superfood-rich, and highly digestible formula. Purina Pro Plan’s Puppy Recipe takes our fourth spot due to its antioxidant-rich and high-protein formulation. Finally, Hill’s Science Diet’s Wet Puppy Food was our Vet’s Choice pick thanks to its gentle fibers for digestion and high-quality lean protein for muscle growth.

Your puppy needs the best nutrition to kickstart his life. Our reviews above provide you with the best options to ensure your pup gets the nutrition he needs to thrive.

• You might be interested in: 10 Best Wet Dog Foods in Canada – Reviews & Top Picks

Featured Image Credit: SasaStock, Shutterstock