I took the e collar off Archie. It was just too annoying. But, I did call the vet first and asked if we could take it off. They said, OK, as long as you notice that he isn't going after his stitches and someone will be there to make sure. Archie's been without it the whole day and he's done OK. I sometimes see him licking it but not aggressively and it's usually when he's licking everywhere in general so I know he's not after the stitches exclusively. I just said "NO!" and he gets the idea. He had the collar Wed., Thurs., Fri., and early morning Sat. That's 4 days. And his stitches are healing pretty well.
I can't say Archie's terribly different since his neutering...he's been much calmer but that can be because of his pain meds. But...we met another dog while on his walk and he didn't try to run to that dog. He didn't try and mark EVERY tree...just a few of them. He also didn't spend the whole day looking out the window for other dogs like he usually does. And he's been a bit more obedient. He was always obedient, but now, he's REALLY obedient. He let me brush his teeth today and stayed close by during his walk. Maybe he's scared I'll send him off to "boarding school" (otherwise known as overnight at the vet's) again. But...He still did go after the mail man!!! I guess some things are just not meant to change.
