High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! A watchdog timer (or computer operating properly (COP) timer) is a computer hardware or software timer that triggers a system reset or other corrective action if the main program, due to some fault condition, such as a hang, neglects to regularly service the watchdog (writing a "service pulse" to it, also referred to as "kicking the dog", “petting the dog”, "feeding the watchdog" or "waking the watchdog"). The intention is to bring the system back from the unresponsive state into normal operation.