Et Tu, Cavapoo?

by Mark Radcliffe

'If you love dogs, if you love travel and if you don't mind Mark, you will love this book' Paddy McGuinness

Call me Mark. My first time in the Roman district of Trastevere was in 1997 whilst covering the England World Cup qualifier for Radio 1. Nearly thirty years later, I'm headed back there, with my wife Bella and dog Arlo in tow.

Call me Arlo. I normally hate the sight of suitcases in case it means Him and Her are leaving me, but this time I'm coming with them. I've got my favourite food packed and my doggy passport ready to go.

In March 2024, the radio presenter Mark Radcliffe and his wife Bella set off from Cheshire in their VW Beetle convertible for a three-month sojourn in Rome taking with them their beloved and pampered five-year old cavapoo, Arlo.

Et Tu Cavapoo? is an account of their time there, told alternately between Mark and Arlo. Join them as they take in the sights (and sniffs) of Rome - from Arlo being taunted by his mortal enemies at the city's cat colony, the pros and cons of queueing for pizza at a trattoria, Arlo's fear of water extending to the Trevi Fountain, discovering what exactly the Spanish had to do with those famous steps, and the site where Shakespeare's Caesar uttered the immortal 'Et tu, Brute'?

Told with humour, affection and insight, this is a travel book like no other as one man and his dog seek to understand each other in one of the great cities of the world. A must-read for lovers of travel and history, food and drink, art and architecture, but also those seeking a deep insight into the eccentricities of the canine mind.

167 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 14, 2025

Reviews

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

easy going read about the author and his dog Arlo time in Rome funny in parts

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a fairly short book, but I decided to listen to it on audiobook rather than read it.

Advertised as ‘A Dog’s Life in Rome’, I was disappointed with this one. In March 2024, Mark Radcliffe, his wife Bella and their cavapoo Arlo, moved to Rome for 3 months. I thought this book was going to be a jaunty trip around Rome from a dog’s point of view, but alas, it wasn’t. Approximately 90% of it was written from Mark’s perspective and the other 10% from Arlo’s, which somehow just didn’t work.

I didn’t learn anything new about the city and was left with the impression that Arlo would much rather have been left at home to chase squirrels.

So my apologies to the author, but this was a generous 2.5 stars from me.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute and enjoyable listen, but I really wanted more dog!! I did really enjoy the parts read from Arlo’s POV, and found myself sniggering at his thoughts - mainly because I know my little Cockapoo would have been thinking the exact same thing haha! In our house we narrate his thoughts, and have attributed his actions to his funny little personality, so it was nice to know we’re not that weird and that Mark Radcliffe does the same thing 😂

There was something lacking from this but I can’t quite pinpoint it. It felt more like someone retelling a story about their holiday - but in a relatively uneventful and non descriptive way. Definitely would have preferred longer sections from Arlo as I think they were the most engaging parts.

[Steph Hall · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 rounded up to 3. This was a short book and the best thing about it was the illustrations done by the author’s wife. The writing just wasn’t very good and having eagerly awaited this book as a lover of Rome as a travel experience, it fell short for me and could have been so much better. And clearly the author had a thing about people with tattoos, among other things - some of his attempts at humour just came across as judgemental.

[Colin Hayes · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit of a oddity but I will always read anything Mark Radcliffe writes. Some may be familiar with his work on the radio through the years. He currently presents the Radcliffe and Maconie show on BBC Radio 6 Music on Saturday and Sunday mornings and in my opinion it's the best show on the radio there is that has two blokes playing records and talking in-between them.

In March 2024 Mark and his wife Bella took three months off and lived in Rome. They took with them their dog a Cavapoo named Arlo. The book is an account of that time told in turn by Mark and Arlo the dog (or Mark's interpretation of what Arlo is thinking). In their travels through Rome we hear about the sights and sounds of that city as well as Arlos battles with the local cats.

It's a light hearted book. Some really funny moments with lots of Mark's trademark humour. It's a nice diversion from some of the stuff going on in the real world. It's a pretty short book but it's quite charming and certainly entertaining. In fact when I finished it I went back to the beginning and started it again.

[Jon Oatley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Full disclosure:
1. I’m a regular listener of Mark on Radio 6 and previously enjoyed his autobiography Reelin’ In The Years.
2. His wife Bella, who does the illustrations in Et Tu, Cavapoo, is an old friend.
3. I too love Rome.
4. I have a similar aged Cockapoo.
The book is a retelling of 3 months living in Rome in spring 2024, split about one third from the perspective of Arlo the cavapoo, two thirds from Mark himself. In truth the format, whilst it sounds like it might be fun/amusing, doesn’t really work.
Slightly disappointingly I neither learnt much I didn’t already know about Rome the city, nor the mind of a small dog.
Mark’s Rome is frequently described as a pile of crumbling stones, overrun with tourists, broken glass on pavements and a mostly monotonous eating experience, not somewhere I’d want to dash back to any time soon.
And Arlo, who seems generally accepting to tag along, would really rather be let off the lead to chase squirrels.
A generous 2 stars.

[W.S. Luk · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love dogs and enjoyed visiting Italy, so I was surprised that this book rarely worked for me. Radcliffe begins with the promising conceit of narrating his three-month tour of Italy from his perspective and that of his dog's, but this quickly devolves into a repetitive structure where his dog describes their visit to a tourist locale and Radcliffe gives some more factual information about what that place is like. ET TU, CAVAPOO? felt like it either needed a stronger sense of comedy or more personal detail about what it was like to visit all these places, many of which are well-known locations that have been much written about.

[Juliet Levy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was looking forward to this book, thinking it might be as good as the columns on Parker the Scottie that I used to read in the newspaper (now a lovely book, "Urban Dog", by Will Cohu) or the classic book "Thy Servant a Dog" by Rudyard Kipling. Unfortunately it was a disappointment. The problem is that the parts of the book supposedly dictated by the dog aren't funny or inventive. The potential was there but it wasn't realised. Nevertheless I expect that it will give rise to a whole series of books, such as "Et Toi, Cavapoo?" about Paris, and so on.

[Bill Boswell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an enjoyable travellogue of Mark and Wife Bellla 3 month stay in Rome

But with the added bonus of giving the perspective from their dog Arlo who they took with them

Arlo tells of the italian foods he tries, his problems with all the mopeds and his boredom of seeing so many stones (structures)

As a travel book it works as Mark is far more informative about the sites than the dog, but the dog also brings the laughs making this better than most dry travel books

[Mrs D. J. Knapp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Relaxing romp around Rome with a dog who has the same talking eyes as those of my own doggie. Found out about a fee places I didn't know about and felt Arlo's frustration when he wasn't allowed in the bone encrusted catacombs

[Judy Saxton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. Dry humour and tips on places to go making me want to travel. Clearly written with a love of Rome.

[Gerard Sweeney · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing; from someone who can be hilarious on the page it seemed laboured and a bit repetitive in tone. Charming enough but felt look a good idea for a travelogue where the subsequent experiences read more like postcards home than anything more substantive.