diff --git a/include/sta/tacos.hpp b/include/sta/tacos.hpp
index bec1616..747c6a5 100644
--- a/include/sta/tacos.hpp
+++ b/include/sta/tacos.hpp
@@ -52,11 +52,17 @@ namespace sta
 		 * @tparam T The class of the thread to be created. A subclass of TacosThread.
 		 * @param states A list of states in which the thread should run. 
 		 * @param args The constructor arguments for the provided class.
+		 *
+		 * @return uint16_t A shared pointer to the created thread.
 		 */
 		template<typename T, typename ... Args>
-		void addThread(std::list<uint16_t> states, Args ... args)
+		std::shared_ptr<T> addThread(std::list<uint16_t> states, Args ... args)
 		{
-            Manager::instance()->registerThread(std::make_shared<T>(args...), states);
+			std::shared_ptr<T> thread_ptr = std::make_shared<T>(args...);
+
+            Manager::instance()->registerThread(thread_ptr, states);
+
+            return thread_ptr;
         }
 	}  // namespace tacos
 }
diff --git a/src/startup.cpp b/src/startup.cpp
index 6550cc1..2130bc6 100644
--- a/src/startup.cpp
+++ b/src/startup.cpp
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 // Tacos-specific includes.
 #include <sta/tacos/manager.hpp>
 #include <sta/tacos/statemachine.hpp>
+#include <sta/tacos/watchdog.hpp>
 
 
 // The UART mutex defined in freertos.c
@@ -49,8 +50,6 @@ namespace sta
 			UARTSettings settings = { .mode =  UARTMode::RX_TX };
 			STM32UART * intf_ptr = new STM32UART(&huart2, settings, mutex);
 			Debug = new PrintableUART(intf_ptr);
-
-			STA_DEBUG_PRINTLN("UART SUCCESSFULLY INITIALIZED");
 		}
 	}
 #endif // STA_DEBUGGING_ENABLED
@@ -86,6 +85,19 @@ namespace sta
 
 			Manager::instance()->start();
 		}
+
+#ifdef STA_TACOS_WATCHDOG_ENABLED
+		STA_WEAK
+		void onWatchdogInit()
+		{}
+
+		void initWatchdog()
+		{
+			onWatchdogInit();
+
+			Watchdog::instance()->start();
+		}
+#endif // STA_TACOS_WATCHDOG_ENABLED
 	}  // namespace tacos
 
 
@@ -101,6 +113,10 @@ namespace sta
 			tacos::initStatemachine();
 
 			tacos::initManager();
+
+#ifdef STA_TACOS_WATCHDOG_ENABLED
+			tacos::initWatchdog();
+#endif // STA_TACOS_WATCHDOG_ENABLED
 		}
 	} // namespace rtos
 } // namespace sta
diff --git a/src/watchdog.cpp b/src/watchdog.cpp
index 63ff4fe..f82fa89 100644
--- a/src/watchdog.cpp
+++ b/src/watchdog.cpp
@@ -32,9 +32,7 @@ namespace sta
 
 		Watchdog::Watchdog()
 			: TacosThread{"Watchdog", STA_TACOS_WATCHDOG_PRIORITY}
-		{
-
-		}
+		{}
 
 		Watchdog* Watchdog::_instance = nullptr;
     } // namespace tacos