"watchdog" is slangy terminology for a consumer rights organization or an industry regulator. It's, like, a metaphor, man. I don't know about the US but the te

"watchdog" is slangy terminology for a consumer rights organization or an industry regulator. It's, like, a metaphor, man. I don't know about the US but the term is commonly used in the UK. (I suppose "watch dog" would be a dog that watches, or something that watches dogs, or, as you suggest, a dog that's somehow got something to do with wrist-mounted timepieces.)