diff --git a/core/application/startup.go b/core/application/startup.go
index 76ef1d525..d70e4bac1 100644
--- a/core/application/startup.go
+++ b/core/application/startup.go
@@ -278,7 +278,7 @@ func loadRuntimeSettingsFromFile(options *config.ApplicationConfig) {
 				options.WatchDogInterval = dur
 			} else {
 				log.Warn().Err(err).Str("interval", *settings.WatchdogInterval).Msg("invalid watchdog interval in runtime_settings.json")
-				options.WatchDogInterval = 10 * time.Second
+				options.WatchDogInterval = model.DefaultWatchdogInterval
 			}
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/model/watchdog_options.go b/pkg/model/watchdog_options.go
index 68e1a78b1..cb21b019e 100644
--- a/pkg/model/watchdog_options.go
+++ b/pkg/model/watchdog_options.go
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ import (
 	"time"
 )
 
+const DefaultWatchdogInterval = 500 * time.Millisecond
+
 // WatchDogOptions contains all configuration for the WatchDog
 type WatchDogOptions struct {
 	processManager ProcessManager
@@ -105,12 +107,12 @@ func DefaultWatchDogOptions() *WatchDogOptions {
 	return &WatchDogOptions{
 		busyTimeout:              5 * time.Minute,
 		idleTimeout:              15 * time.Minute,
-		watchdogInterval:         2 * time.Second,
+		watchdogInterval:         DefaultWatchdogInterval,
 		busyCheck:                false,
 		idleCheck:                false,
 		lruLimit:                 0,
 		memoryReclaimerEnabled:   false,
-		memoryReclaimerThreshold: 0.95,
+		memoryReclaimerThreshold: 0.80,
 	}
 }