diff --git a/usr/bin/custom/watchdog-monitor b/usr/bin/custom/watchdog-monitor
index a7e9d63..3797fe1 100644
--- a/usr/bin/custom/watchdog-monitor
+++ b/usr/bin/custom/watchdog-monitor
@@ -43,22 +43,30 @@ update_watchdog_config() {
         done
         log "Configured watchdog to ping: ${ip_array[*]}"
 
-        # Restart watchdog service
-        if sudo systemctl restart watchdog; then
-            log "Watchdog service restarted successfully."
+        # Attempt to restart watchdog service
+        if ! sudo systemctl restart watchdog; then
+            log "Failed to restart watchdog service. Attempting to stop and start."
 
-            # Stop watchdog-monitor service
-            if sudo systemctl stop watchdog-monitor; then
-                log "watchdog-monitor service stopped successfully."
+            # Fallback: stop then start the service
+            sudo systemctl stop watchdog
+            if sudo systemctl start watchdog; then
+                log "Watchdog service started successfully after stop."
             else
-                log "Failed to stop watchdog-monitor service."
+                log "Failed to start watchdog service after stop."
+                return 1
             fi
-            
-            return 0  # Successful restart
         else
-            log "Failed to restart watchdog service."
-            return 1  # Failed restart
+            log "Watchdog service restarted successfully."
         fi
+
+        # Stop watchdog-monitor service if restart/start was successful
+        if sudo systemctl stop watchdog-monitor; then
+            log "watchdog-monitor service stopped successfully."
+        else
+            log "Failed to stop watchdog-monitor service."
+        fi
+
+        return 0  # Successful restart/start
     fi
 }