I am planning on switching my dog over to natural food soon. Can I really trust a grocery store to sell me chicken that is safe for my dog before cooking it? Aren't there dangerous pathogens that are destroyed with heat?

If you are worried about bacteria, then I'd definitely recommend you do a lot more research before you switch your dog. You need to be confident in what you are doing and have all the facts before you begin.

Here is a Q&A section on raw feeding.

A healthy dog doesn't have trouble with bacteria, their digestive tract is not like ours.

The best books for learning about the raw diet are Raw Dog Food and Natural Nutrition for Dogs & Cats. We give both these books to our puppy customers and rarely have questions about the diet. One of the newer feeding books we offer is Raw & Natural Nutrition for Dogs. This title covers homemade cooked & raw diets complete with recipes. I highly recommend all these books.

I hope this helps.

Cindy Rhodes