The motor response of the canine stomach to test meals of varied nutrient content and physical state, administered either orally or intraduodenally, was studied. Oral feeding abolished regular contractions in the proximal stomach. There was a simultaneous fall in the proximal gastric baseline force, which slowly recovered to the preprandial level, at which time regular contractions returned. The magnitude and duration of these events varied with the type of meal, as did the distal gastric response, which was characterized by abolition of the fasting motor pattern and establishment of continuous low-amplitude contractions. Duodenal feeding of a nutrient, but not nonnutrient, meal abolished fasting motor activity in both proximal and distal stomach but did not induce either a fall in proximal gastric baseline force or distal gastric contractions. These results suggest that stimulation of duodenal as well as gastric receptors is required to elicit the normal prandial response of both proximal and distal stomach.