The last time I got into a thread involving raw meat it was on another forum. The owner fed their dog raw chicken, and ended up with 3 days of diarrhea. When I suggested that raw chicken is inherently contaminated on the surface with enteric bacteria especially various Salmonella serotypes, they came out of the woodwork at me. One poster was really bouncing off the walls at my suggestion that raw chicken should never be fed. They argued that Europeans regularly ate raw meat without problems and thrived on it. In the end I suggested that at next Thanksgiving they eat their Turkey raw, and let me know how it came out in the end.

The raw or BARF diet is sort of like religion. If you are a believer, then nothing will sway your thoughts or course. A lot of emotions come into play with the idea that raw meat is natural or more healthy than the mysterious dog food.

My basic premise on feeding dogs human like food is that if I wouldn't eat it, then I'm not going to be feeding it to my puppies. An interesting article to read is :

BARF myths

Note the interesting discussion about bones and fur and the diet of Wolves.

None the less...If you are going to feed a raw meat diet then it is critical you avoid bacterial contamination of the meat. You must be confident your source is handling the meat correctly. It has been said that ideal is to obtain the meat from the packing house directly - where a premium is placed on keeping the meat free from contamination. Choose your source wisely. Even then one would want to freeze it for storage, and blanch the meat by dipping in boiling water for a few minutes to clean off the surface. Assuming you have freed the meat of contamination, then the next question is whether the diet is as balanced per nutritional needs as a high quality commercial dog food?

What you probably ran into with the meat on the bone was not only bacterial contamination, but also the toxins being produced by the bacteria. This feeds back on the idea the meat served your dog should be fresh, and not sitting in a meat counter for a long period of time. Who knows the history of that knuckle bone? Usually the toxins produce an immediate short term affect, whereas a true bacteria infection of the gut may last up to a week plus.

My puppies past and present have thrived on the Propet brand of dog food, although there are many other brands that are probably equivalent. When in need of a chew- rawhide of a particular brand they get. My little male lab/mix 55 lbs of energy is currently giving a rawhide bone a going over as I type this. That's not to say he isn't delighted when he or his sister find a deer bone in the woods! They keep on wanting to cheat.