I still think I need to know how I incorporate some kind of reset in the program just in case it does crash.
since everything will be solder on a board, you'll not going to have bad contact... so don't need anything like that. ou cannot monitor something when the PIC is not able to run well by himself.

always remind MCLR=ON You need resistor to +5Volts(<10K). In case the resistor is not there, the program may work or not, depending on the noise comming on this pin. If the noise is sufficient, the PIC may consider that you have place a kind of resistor to 5 volts. but it's not going to be stable and bugless.

maybe program with MCLR=OFF will be a safe way to avoid everything. If you don't need this pin, tie it to ground to avoid static discharge... anyway the usual CMOS care.