I had a great experience with Carmen. She accepted my last-minute booking request, which was a huge help, and took very good care of my dog. She was reliable, caring, and made me feel confident that my dog was in good hands. I really appreciate her flexibility and would happily recommend her to others. Thank you!

Hunter stayed at Carmen's house for 8 days in June. I found her through Rover website with good reviews. A month prior to his stay, I organised a meet & greet session with Carmen to see how confident she was to look after Hunter and other dogs simultaneously, explicitly communicating to her that I would be on international travels and would not be able to deal with any dog issue or find alternative sitter during that period. Carmen felt confident, confirming she would not quit booking as it would be penalised by Rover; I subsequently made the booking that was accepted by her, a contract of dog-sitting was drawn. First two days seemed to be happy time, as Carmen sent photos and videos of dog walking and playing where Hunter licking her arm, which was no difference from what we experienced at home, all seemed to be normal … until one day, Carmen sent a picture of a soft toy that was chewed by Hunter, the happy tone suddenly changed to angry one, for ever. It must be a soft toy dearly loved by her own dog, Snowy, and Hunter unknowingly offended her and her princess, Snowy. Carmen started to demand a list of items for Hunter that I had to pay, the soft toy (that I did not ask for that), a new plastic muzzle (strong enough to constrain Hunter's mouth), a new thick collar (strong enough to constrain Hunter's neck), a new iron lead (as her old one was chewed by Hunter overnight as they try to constrain him in a separate room - why did they do that?) … at this point, Hunter was already treated as a prisoner in Carmen's house for his offence of chewing Snowy's or perhaps Carmen's teddy bear. A war-zone was effectively drawn by Carmen. Not surprisingly, normal dogs will protest against such treatment and Hunter is a normal dog. Carmen soon decided to quit Hunter's boarding with her and contacted Rover, against all her promises made to me during the meet & greet. Unfortunately or fortunately, due to travelling abroad, I did not receive calls or text messages from Rover, and when I returned back to the UK, I could see there was no solution from Rover anyway, with one rogue sitter demanding £100 per night, to reap from such situation. At home, Carmen started to add a bit rationality to her anger, she took Hunter to her room whilst her husband looks after Snowy, so both dogs seemed to find right chemicals to calm down. Seemingly a common-sense for dog sitters or dog owners, but why did it take so long for Carmen to act - a residual anger of Hunter chewing her tiddy bear? As "professional" or even "star" dog sitter, Carmen was supposed to know she should treat all dogs equally and handle their conflicts wisely, especially when Rover allows her to host two dogs, in additional to her own dog. But that was perhaps too big a ask for her. On the day of handing Hunter back to me, Carmen showed her true colour again. At her door, Carmen locked herself in and demanded cash payment of £66.47 before she could release Hunter - sounds like a hostage movie and unthinkable this could happen in the UK, not mentioning in Cambridge. She refused the opportunity to talk directly at her door but resorted to send WhatsApp messages. When I demanded and checked the receipts, I noticed the muzzle was even charged twice, so managed to reduce the price to £54.47. The moment I handed over the cash to her, I saw a sly smile over her face, and could see what really matters to her. Like treating a released prisoner, Carmen said no good bye to Hunter. While I was cuddling and calming down Hunter at Carmen's front door, she threw all Hunter's belongings, in apparent hatred and anger, through her front door and onto patio, all over the place, with two bowls used by Hunter for eating and drinking rolling along the patio upside-down. I felt so sorry for her as her teddy bear was chewed by Hunter. To help her see more clearly on herself, I promised her to write a very good review for her. Hunter developed a big sore on his nose bridge due to Carmen's unnecessarily prolonged use of muzzle on him, at home, we never needed to use muzzle. Hunter also had highly weakened body strength, unable to jump over to sofa as easy as before. He also had runny poo with blood. In addition, Hunter appeared to distant himself from humans and other dogs, as well as being less alert and agile. I asked Carmen for information on anything (physical and mental) they did to Hunter during his stay so this can be shared with Vet, but she did not reply. So where were her promises - three (clean) meals a day, two regular walks a day, a peace of mind, a dog lover? Only a few days left in Carmen's hands, Hunter seemed to have gone through hell and we are on a journey to rehabilitate him with our love.