I would suspect rats. They have a habit of chewing seedling, especiall corn, melons, sunflowers, peas, beans. This happened to me last year. I was suspecting rabbits. So I make a rebbit trap. But what I catching were rats. I let them loose in the beginning; I was saying to myself "I don't want to catch rats but rabbits" haha. I kep sprinkling my garden with rabbit repelents, salt/pepper but something didn't give a damn and kept on chewing off my seedlings.This was not definitly a squirrel habit. Squirrel dig up the seeds(corn, peanut..) but do not eat or chew greens. After some internet search, I found out that it was the rat not the rabbit. From then on I went after the rats. Rabbits generally eat the top of the plants, if they can reach it. But rats chew off stems. leaving the top behind. I know this, because I almost eradicated the rats last yar and this year I have some rabbits eating the top of carrots. With the peas on trelis, since they cannot reach the tops, they eat those laying on the ground and the lower part of the rest. So I think, If your father lives in a rural area, with wooded area nearby, then it is most likly that rats are the culprits. Best thing is to get a Mouser cat that can go after rats. It has to be a big cat, rats are much bigger than mouse. The other options are placing all kinds of traps and baits. But be aware of the birds and cats not to eat the poison baits and get caught in the traps. For further information, google rats in the garden. I am sure you will find a lot of information. Good luck!

knuttle, No problems with anything else. My lab, the neighbors outdoor cat and woodchucks seem to keep other animals at bay. There is one side in particular that they congregate which is on the left side. I think they live under the spruces in my neighbors yard over there. Ken, This would just be a temporary winter fence so I'm open to other ideas. I do see rabbits munching in the lawn during the growing season but they seem to stay outside my yard because of the dog. Poaky, Good idea for smaller individual plants. I've used hardware cloth in the past and just hate using it. It stores terribly too. I just have too many plants to protect at this point. This view is about a year old. I'd estimate 500 to 600 plants? For perspective the American Lindens lining the drive on the left are about 60' tall and 40' wide. I might skip the mesh for now until I put together a final cost. But the mesh is pretty cheap at Menards. If I can save three $50 plants I might win out in the end. Might try the sprays too. I've heard if you mix up the brands in a given year it helps with the results. For example Liquid fence one month, then Plantskydd the next month.

One of the many lovely things about clematis is that they come back from damage well. I think that since it isn't wilting it will be fine. As far as winter . . . my The President gets killed to the ground by cold pretty much every winter and comes back from the roots and blooms just fine, so I would have no concern about the dog's damage effecting winter hardiness.

haaahaha...i now don't feel so bad knowing that a family of squirrels has taken up residence in my garage. good thing my garage is not attached to the house. but they have torn a huge hole in the back of my garage, and it seems that they are not even scared of me anymore. when i go in the garage, the mother squirrel does not even move from her spot up in the rafters. i swear today that one of them was waiting for me on my back porch....wtf?? thankfully my husband has just bought a giant assault rifle type pellet gun and is excited to use it. the squirrels have done so much damage to our garage, i almost feel like we might as well tear it down and build a new one. they have ripped down ALL the insulation, and the holes are ridiculous. so...good luck to all you squirrel hunters out there...and just remember...they might be cute..BUT THEY ARE STILL RATS!!!!