diff --git a/interface/src/Application.cpp b/interface/src/Application.cpp
index 280f2c5d1f..2512dc8b26 100644
--- a/interface/src/Application.cpp
+++ b/interface/src/Application.cpp
@@ -250,37 +250,49 @@ public:
             auto lastHeartbeatAge = (now > lastHeartbeat) ? now - lastHeartbeat : 0;
             auto sinceLastReport = (now > _lastReport) ? now - _lastReport : 0;
             auto elapsedMovingAverage = _movingAverage.getAverage();
+            auto menu = Menu::getInstance();
+            bool suppressStatusMessages = menu ? menu->isOptionChecked(MenuOption::SupressDeadlockWatchdogStatus) : false;
 
             if (elapsedMovingAverage > _maxElapsedAverage) {
-                qDebug() << "DEADLOCK WATCHDOG NEW maxElapsedAverage:"
+                qDebug() << "DEADLOCK WATCHDOG WARNING:"
                     << "lastHeartbeatAge:" << lastHeartbeatAge
                     << "elapsedMovingAverage:" << elapsedMovingAverage
                     << "maxElapsed:" << _maxElapsed
                     << "PREVIOUS maxElapsedAverage:" << _maxElapsedAverage
-                    << "NEW maxElapsedAverage:" << elapsedMovingAverage
+                    << "NEW maxElapsedAverage:" << elapsedMovingAverage << "** NEW MAX ELAPSED AVERAGE **"
                     << "samples:" << _movingAverage.getSamples();
                 _maxElapsedAverage = elapsedMovingAverage;
             }
             if (lastHeartbeatAge > _maxElapsed) {
-                qDebug() << "DEADLOCK WATCHDOG NEW maxElapsed:"
+                qDebug() << "DEADLOCK WATCHDOG WARNING:"
                     << "lastHeartbeatAge:" << lastHeartbeatAge
                     << "elapsedMovingAverage:" << elapsedMovingAverage
                     << "PREVIOUS maxElapsed:" << _maxElapsed
-                    << "NEW maxElapsed:" << lastHeartbeatAge
+                    << "NEW maxElapsed:" << lastHeartbeatAge << "** NEW MAX ELAPSED **"
                     << "maxElapsedAverage:" << _maxElapsedAverage
                     << "samples:" << _movingAverage.getSamples();
                 _maxElapsed = lastHeartbeatAge;
             }
-            if ((sinceLastReport > HEARTBEAT_REPORT_INTERVAL_USECS) || (elapsedMovingAverage > WARNING_ELAPSED_HEARTBEAT)) {
-                qDebug() << "DEADLOCK WATCHDOG STATUS -- lastHeartbeatAge:" << lastHeartbeatAge
-                         << "elapsedMovingAverage:" << elapsedMovingAverage
-                         << "maxElapsed:" << _maxElapsed
-                         << "maxElapsedAverage:" << _maxElapsedAverage
-                         << "samples:" << _movingAverage.getSamples();
+            if (elapsedMovingAverage > WARNING_ELAPSED_HEARTBEAT) {
+                qDebug() << "DEADLOCK WATCHDOG WARNING:"
+                    << "lastHeartbeatAge:" << lastHeartbeatAge
+                    << "elapsedMovingAverage:" << elapsedMovingAverage << "** OVER EXPECTED VALUE**"
+                    << "maxElapsed:" << _maxElapsed
+                    << "maxElapsedAverage:" << _maxElapsedAverage
+                    << "samples:" << _movingAverage.getSamples();
+                _lastReport = now;
+            }
+
+            if (!suppressStatusMessages && sinceLastReport > HEARTBEAT_REPORT_INTERVAL_USECS) {
+                qDebug() << "DEADLOCK WATCHDOG STATUS:"
+                    << "lastHeartbeatAge:" << lastHeartbeatAge
+                    << "elapsedMovingAverage:" << elapsedMovingAverage
+                    << "maxElapsed:" << _maxElapsed
+                    << "maxElapsedAverage:" << _maxElapsedAverage
+                    << "samples:" << _movingAverage.getSamples();
                 _lastReport = now;
             }
 
-#ifdef NDEBUG
             if (lastHeartbeatAge > MAX_HEARTBEAT_AGE_USECS) {
                 qDebug() << "DEADLOCK DETECTED -- "
                          << "lastHeartbeatAge:" << lastHeartbeatAge
@@ -290,9 +302,13 @@ public:
                          << "maxElapsed:" << _maxElapsed
                          << "maxElapsedAverage:" << _maxElapsedAverage
                          << "samples:" << _movingAverage.getSamples();
-                deadlockDetectionCrash();
+
+                // Don't actually crash in debug builds, in case this apparent deadlock is simply from
+                // the developer actively debugging code
+                #ifdef NDEBUG
+                    deadlockDetectionCrash();
+                #endif
             }
-#endif
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/interface/src/Menu.cpp b/interface/src/Menu.cpp
index d69796b453..4ea69af2b8 100644
--- a/interface/src/Menu.cpp
+++ b/interface/src/Menu.cpp
@@ -530,6 +530,7 @@ Menu::Menu() {
     addCheckableActionToQMenuAndActionHash(timingMenu, MenuOption::PipelineWarnings);
     addCheckableActionToQMenuAndActionHash(timingMenu, MenuOption::LogExtraTimings);
     addCheckableActionToQMenuAndActionHash(timingMenu, MenuOption::SuppressShortTimings);
+    addCheckableActionToQMenuAndActionHash(timingMenu, MenuOption::SupressDeadlockWatchdogStatus, 0, false);
 
     // Developer > Audio >>>
     MenuWrapper* audioDebugMenu = developerMenu->addMenu("Audio");
diff --git a/interface/src/Menu.h b/interface/src/Menu.h
index 3488f03b0e..48bda01076 100644
--- a/interface/src/Menu.h
+++ b/interface/src/Menu.h
@@ -162,6 +162,7 @@ namespace MenuOption {
     const QString Stats = "Stats";
     const QString StopAllScripts = "Stop All Scripts";
     const QString SuppressShortTimings = "Suppress Timings Less than 10ms";
+    const QString SupressDeadlockWatchdogStatus = "Supress Deadlock Watchdog Status";
     const QString ThirdPerson = "Third Person";
     const QString ThreePointCalibration = "3 Point Calibration";
     const QString ThrottleFPSIfNotFocus = "Throttle FPS If Not Focus"; // FIXME - this value duplicated in Basic2DWindowOpenGLDisplayPlugin.cpp