Could my dog be secretly licking her stiches?

My dog was spayed Friday, and the vet used external stitches. At first I used a clear e-collar, but she learned how to take it of by pushing the edge against the wall, so Saturday I got her an inflatable collar, which she tries running away when I am about to put it on (but she did the same with the e-collar). On the first day any time she moved towards the stitches I yelled at her, and since then she doesn't even try when, or at least when I am in view. However I do not know if she licks it when she is alone, such as when I am asleep or out of the house. When I am home I try to keep her in the same room as me, but she keeps trying to leave and go to her crate in the dining room, which until now she has avoided going into for the past year.