once I plugged in the device it only started showing the logs from that point
That is different from what I expected. I did not know that the logcat was not being collected when the device was not plugged in. I don't know how watches work. I am only familiar with tablets.
Another approach I have used is to write what is printed by System.out.println to a file on the device and then it is not lost in the midst of the logcat details.
Here is a link to some debug code:
https://www.dreamincode.net/forums/topic/389160-android-app-debugging-aids/