---
title: Watchdog Monitor
description: Algorithmically detects application and infrastructure issues.
breadcrumbs: Docs > Monitors > Monitor Types > Watchdog Monitor
---

# Watchdog Monitor

## Overview{% #overview %}

[Watchdog](https://docs.datadoghq.com/watchdog/) is an algorithmic feature for APM, Infrastructure, and Logs. It automatically detects potential issues by continuously observing trends and patterns in metrics and logs, and looking for atypical behavior.

## Monitor creation{% #monitor-creation %}

To create a [Watchdog monitor](https://app.datadoghq.com/monitors/create/watchdog) in Datadog, use the main navigation: *Monitors –> New Monitor –> Watchdog*.

{% image
   source="https://datadog-docs.imgix.net/images/monitors/monitor_types/watchdog/watchdog-monitor-1.e454a25ea4be24ec98b1211a763e064f.png?auto=format"
   alt="Configuring a Watchdog Monitor" /%}

## Define your query{% #define-your-query %}

Select the scope to be alerted on with the following optional configurations (wildcards are supported):

**1. Predefined selectors**

- Environment. These values are derived from the `env` tag.
- Alert Category. Scope the monitor to a subset of Watchdog alerts.
- Team. These values are derived from the Software Catalog.

**2. Additional scoping**

- Filter on any additional tag available on the Watchdog event.
- Group By the dimensions you want to [group notifications by](https://docs.datadoghq.com/monitors/configuration/?tab=thresholdalert#alert-grouping).
  {% image
     source="https://datadog-docs.imgix.net/images/monitors/monitor_types/watchdog/watchdog-monitor-2.ab174b3e8edc5c0939370f4113791e74.png?auto=format"
     alt="Configuring a Watchdog Monitor with advanced settings" /%}

After your selections are made, the graph at the top of the monitor creation page displays the matching Watchdog events over the selected time frame.

Log anomalies are found based on the `service`, `source`, and `env` tags. If your query includes any of these tags, only log anomalies matching them are shown. If other tags, such as `host`, are included in the query, Watchdog uses those tags to show only relevant combinations of `service`, `source`, or `env`.

### Notifications{% #notifications %}

For more instructions on the **Configure notifications and automations** section, see the [Notifications](https://docs.datadoghq.com/monitors/notify/) page.

## Further Reading{% #further-reading %}

- [Configure your monitor notifications](https://docs.datadoghq.com/monitors/notify/)
- [Watchdog, algorithmically detect application and infrastructure issues](https://docs.datadoghq.com/watchdog/)