diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 1ae7901e..da8e84c6 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -26,6 +26,11 @@ will consitute of a breaking change warranting a new major release:
 
 - Missing `nullptr` checks for PLOC Supervisor handler, which could lead to crashes.
 
+## Added
+
+- Activate Xiphos WDT with a timeout period of 60 seconds using the `libxiphos` API. The WDT
+  calls are done by the new `XiphosWdtHandler` object.
+
 # [v6.6.0] 2023-09-18
 
 ## Changed
diff --git a/bsp_q7s/core/XiphosWdtHandler.cpp b/bsp_q7s/core/XiphosWdtHandler.cpp
index 38d206db..dbf1474a 100644
--- a/bsp_q7s/core/XiphosWdtHandler.cpp
+++ b/bsp_q7s/core/XiphosWdtHandler.cpp
@@ -19,11 +19,20 @@ ReturnValue_t XiphosWdtHandler::initialize() {
                << " seconds failed with code " << result << ": " << strerror(result) << std::endl;
     return ObjectManagerIF::CHILD_INIT_FAILED;
   }
-  result = xsc_watchdog_enable(wdtHandle);
-  if (result != 0) {
-    sif::error << "XiphosWdtHandler: Enabling WDT failed with code " << result << ": "
-               << strerror(result) << std::endl;
-    return ObjectManagerIF::CHILD_INIT_FAILED;
+  int nowayout = 0;
+  int status = 0;
+  result = xsc_watchdog_get_status(&nowayout, &status);
+  if (result == 0) {
+    if (status == 0) {
+      result = xsc_watchdog_enable(wdtHandle);
+      if (result != 0) {
+        sif::error << "XiphosWdtHandler: Enabling WDT failed with code " << result << ": "
+                   << strerror(result) << std::endl;
+        return ObjectManagerIF::CHILD_INIT_FAILED;
+      }
+    }
+  } else {
+    sif::warning << "XiphosWdtHandler: Getting WDT status failed" << std::endl;
   }
   return returnvalue::OK;
 }
diff --git a/bsp_q7s/scheduling.cpp b/bsp_q7s/scheduling.cpp
index 7a94c118..e8208e65 100644
--- a/bsp_q7s/scheduling.cpp
+++ b/bsp_q7s/scheduling.cpp
@@ -82,8 +82,10 @@ void scheduling::initTasks() {
   }
 #endif
 
+  // Medium priority, higher than something like payload, but not the highest priority to also
+  // detect tasks which choke other tasks.
   PeriodicTaskIF* xiphosWdtTask =
-      factory->createPeriodicTask("XIPHOS_WDT", 90, PeriodicTaskIF::MINIMUM_STACK_SIZE, 0.4,
+      factory->createPeriodicTask("XIPHOS_WDT", 40, PeriodicTaskIF::MINIMUM_STACK_SIZE, 0.4,
                                   missedDeadlineFunc, &RR_SCHEDULING);
   result = xiphosWdtTask->addComponent(objects::XIPHOS_WDT);
   if (result != returnvalue::OK) {