diff --git a/examples/new_project_templates/lightning_module_template.py b/examples/new_project_templates/lightning_module_template.py
index c11dd1b335..94e3407d96 100644
--- a/examples/new_project_templates/lightning_module_template.py
+++ b/examples/new_project_templates/lightning_module_template.py
@@ -151,12 +151,23 @@ class LightningTemplateModel(LightningModule):
         val_loss_mean = 0
         val_acc_mean = 0
         for output in outputs:
-            val_loss_mean += output['val_loss']
-            val_acc_mean += output['val_acc']
+            val_loss = output['val_loss']
+
+            # reduce manually when using dp
+            if self.trainer.use_dp:
+                val_loss = torch.mean(val_loss)
+            val_loss_mean += val_loss
+
+            # reduce manually when using dp
+            val_acc = output['val_acc']
+            if self.trainer.use_dp:
+                val_acc_mean = torch.mean(val_acc)
+
+            val_acc_mean += val_acc_mean
 
         val_loss_mean /= len(outputs)
         val_acc_mean /= len(outputs)
-        tqdm_dic = {'val_loss': val_loss_mean.item(), 'val_acc': val_acc_mean.item()}
+        tqdm_dic = {'val_loss': val_loss_mean, 'val_acc': val_acc_mean}
         return tqdm_dic
 
     # ---------------------
diff --git a/pytorch_lightning/models/trainer.py b/pytorch_lightning/models/trainer.py
index e67a90cbd7..1c646a1221 100644
--- a/pytorch_lightning/models/trainer.py
+++ b/pytorch_lightning/models/trainer.py
@@ -399,13 +399,14 @@ class Trainer(TrainerIO):
                 output = model(data_batch, batch_i)
             elif self.use_dp:
                 output = model(data_batch, batch_i)
-                output = reduce_distributed_output(output, len(self.data_parallel_device_ids))
-
             elif self.single_gpu:
+                # put inputs on gpu manually
                 gpu_id = self.data_parallel_device_ids[0]
                 for i, x in enumerate(data_batch):
                     if isinstance(x, torch.Tensor):
                         data_batch[i] = x.cuda(gpu_id)
+
+                # do non dp, ddp step
                 output = model.validation_step(data_batch, batch_i)
 
             else:
@@ -862,7 +863,6 @@ We recommend you switch to ddp if you want to use amp
             output = self.model(data_batch, batch_nb)
         elif self.use_dp:
             output = self.model(data_batch, batch_nb)
-            output = reduce_distributed_output(output, len(self.data_parallel_device_ids))
         elif self.single_gpu:
             gpu_id = self.data_parallel_device_ids[0]
             for i, x in enumerate(data_batch):
@@ -874,7 +874,14 @@ We recommend you switch to ddp if you want to use amp
             output = self.model.training_step(data_batch, batch_nb)
 
         try:
-            model_specific_tqdm_metrics_dic = output['prog']
+            prog_output = output['prog']
+
+            # reduce prog metrics for tqdm when using dp
+            if self.use_dp:
+                nb_gpus = len(self.data_parallel_device_ids)
+                prog_output = reduce_distributed_output(prog_output, nb_gpus)
+
+            model_specific_tqdm_metrics_dic = prog_output
         except Exception:
             model_specific_tqdm_metrics_dic = {}
 
@@ -886,6 +893,10 @@ We recommend you switch to ddp if you want to use amp
             if type(output) is torch.Tensor:
                 loss = output
 
+        # when using dp need to reduce the loss
+        if self.use_dp:
+            loss = reduce_distributed_output(loss, len(self.data_parallel_device_ids))
+
         self.__add_tqdm_metrics(model_specific_tqdm_metrics_dic)
 
         # backward pass
@@ -968,12 +979,12 @@ We recommend you switch to ddp if you want to use amp
         # use full val set on end of epoch
         # use a small portion otherwise
         max_batches = None if not self.fast_dev_run else 1
-        model_specific_tqdm_metrics_dic = self.validate(
+        validation_results = self.validate(
             self.model,
             self.val_dataloader,
             max_batches
         )
-        self.__add_tqdm_metrics(model_specific_tqdm_metrics_dic)
+        self.__add_tqdm_metrics(validation_results)
 
         # hook
         if self.__is_function_implemented('on_post_performance_check'):