Interdigestive colonic motor patterns of conscious dogs chronically implanted with strain gauge force transducers showed regularly recurring motor complexes. These motor complexes consisted of a sequence of 8-12 tonic contractions (frequency: 1.3/min), on which phasic contractions (frequency: 5-6/min) were superimposed. Complex duration was about 7 min, cycle duration about 32 min. These interdigestive motor complexes of the canine colon were not related to the small intestinal motor complexes and must therefore be considered as a unique and organ-specific motor pattern.