Overnight Noodle, Jonathan Graziano’s 13-year-old pug, has become the internet’s oracle.
Most mornings Graziano makes a TikTok on his account @jongraz where he plays the game “no bones” with Noodle. Graziano checks if it is a bones day by setting Noodle in a sitting position. If Noodle can hold himself up, it’s a bones day. If Noodle succumbs to gravity and collapses into his pillow, it’s a no bones day.
Bones days and no bones days have become a sign of what the day will bring. Bones days are a good omen, while no bones days give you permission to relax.
In order to understand the ins and outs of Noodle, bones days, and no bones days we got Graziano on the phone to ask all your burning questions.
Mashable: When did you start checking if it was a bones day or no bones day?
Jonathan Graziano: That’s just like a little thing that we’ve done ever since I adopted Noodle.
I adopted him when he was seven and a half years old. And we learned very quickly that any time of day, but especially in the mornings, if he doesn’t want to get up he won’t. He will literally surrender himself to dead weight and the gravity.
I think Noodle has a superpower and I think it is to manipulate his density at will. We call it “no bones,” but he really just like won’t put any effort into getting up and that’s my clue to just leave him alone.
He will literally surrender himself to dead weight and the gravity.
We’ve been doing this for six years and I’ve been sharing it on Instagram every now and then. It’s always so fun because people can relate to it. It’s a thing a lot of dogs do in different capacities to communicate with us that they’re just not doing it today and I think it’s really struck a chord with people because, like, who’s got it in them? Who can even anymore?
When you lift Noodle up to check if is a bones day, do you have a feeling before of it will be a bones day or a no bones day?
Honestly, there are some days where I feel like I have a good idea, but I have to say on those days I am mostly wrong.
Usually in the mornings I can tell based on the way that he’ll interact with me when I’m trying to initially scoop him up and give him some belly rubs. Sometimes I will feel him try to chime in and be like, “no I can do it,” but even on those days sometimes I’m wrong. And then the days where I think he’s going to be total mush he’s like, “No man, I’ve got this.” So he’s constantly keeping me on my toes.
Where did the idea of bones days and no bones days come from?
One of my best girlfriends from college, whenever she didn’t want to do something and her boyfriend was around she would just go home and flop on the couch. And she’d say she had no bones. Then it would be on her boyfriend to either leave her there or to to pick her up and get her out the door. And it was this really funny thing that she did and it just kind of caught on with some of our friends. We’d be like “Oh my god, I hope Nikki has bones, I hope we see her tonight.”
Years, years, years later I adopted Noodle and he just did the thing. Usually he would just be lying down on the couch or something and I’d sit him up. My intention is always just to put him in a seated position and be like, “OK, dude, you’ve got this.” A lot of times he’s like, “Joke’s on you I don’t,” and just flops back on his pillow. He just goes right back to sleep. And I have to check in on him in another hour.
How did you create the associations of a bones day and a no bones day?
I didn’t. I had absolutely nothing to do with that.
So I had the idea of bones days and no bones days, but then I started posting videos in TikTok and they started getting a lot of traction and becoming something a lot bigger. I swear to god people just started commenting saying like “Oh my god it is a bones day I am going to have a great day today,” or to the no bones day, “Oh my gosh I really needed a bones day, I can’t get married on a no bones day.” People started commenting that this was more accurate than their horoscope and than their local weatherman. Literally the internet made this a thing. The internet decided that this pug was the oracle.
Literally the internet made this a thing. The internet decided that this pug was the oracle.
I’ve always been scared of this dog in reverence, like you see so much further than I do. But now people are literally referring to him as the Oracle, so we can all agree that Noodlehead has surpassed me in every way.
Why do you think people have latched on to the idea?
I think something about this was necessary with the amount of people who are responding and the amount of positivity surrounding this. I can speak for myself, almost every day I’m like I’m hanging on by a thread. Why am I getting out of bed in the morning? So, to have this sweet little pug helps people a lot.
I can’t tell how many times I’ll a wake up to a glass of water at four in morning and I’ll check Twitter and I’ll be like, oh I ruined my day before it even started. So then for people to wake up and to check and see whether this pug has bones or not, it’s very silly, but it seems to tap into a real need for people nowadays.
I love what it’s become. People have been so nice and they’ve been so kind and they’ve really picked up on this message of how incredible senior dogs are. And how they’re older and you know you might not be going on walks around the block anymore, but let me tell you when we when we go on a walk and we make it to the fifth house down that is a celebration. That is a great day. There’s so much love and joy in taking care of an old dog and especially when it’s stubborn and silly as Noodle and I just hope that people become a little more open to to adopting older dogs after seeing some of these videos.
Is it overwhelming to see those messages of people saying for example that they can’t get married on a no bones day?
Yes, I’m not gonna lie to you. l feel a lot of pressure, because it really has turned into something that I was not expecting. I had 100,000 followers on TikTok on Oct. 2. It is Oct. 19 I’m about to hit 2.2 million.
I think TikTok is a fabulous place. I think everyone on TikTok is a genius and it’s been emotional. I love the response and I love getting messages from people like, “Every morning my third grade class gets together and we watch these videos.”
This woman yesterday, there is no way to prove it, but I’m assuming she’s not lying because of all the content she’s posted. But she posted a video saying she took her son to the drugstore to get gummy worms. She was thinking of buying a lottery ticket and wasn’t going to, but it was a bones day, so she bought one and she won $500,000. The fact that she did that because of this silly little thing, it’s literally life changing.
In that same vein there has been a lot of people messaging me saying they really need a bones day because like their son is graduating, which I love. But it is also important to me that people understand that Noodle just does what he does. In a way, everyday is a bones day.
Are there any days when it’s Noodle is having a bones day, but it is a no bones day for you?
Oh, yeah. I mean I live on the fifth floor of my apartment building and every single I carry Noodle up and down the stairs. So by the end of every day, it’s a no bones day for me.
What I love about having a dog and an older dog as suborn as Noodle is that no matter what is going on in my life, he goes on a walk, he gets breakfast, and his routine doesn’t change. That’s something that keeps me very grounded.
There are a lot of days where Noodle is just like totally calling the shots and I have to surrender myself to it.
Do you think that Noodle knows he’s famous?
No, I don’t think he has any idea. But I think he knows that he deserves attention. But I don’t think it’s any idea that he’s famous.
Actually, he might know after these past couple of weeks.
Have you been getting stopped a lot?
Recently, I haven’t been able to take him down the street without at least two or three people coming up to me. It’s such a thrill to get to share this silly, little dog with people. Noodle is the joy of my life and to get to share with people is amazing. He’s friendly. He screams at people when he wants them to say hi.
OK, one final question, my coworkers in Australia wanted to know how the timezones work for bones and no bones days, is it retroactive?
This is what I’m thinking because there will be days where I am just unable to post videos. What I am thinking of doing and trying to establish that if you’ve seen a bones video on your FYP, that’s the one that you roll with for the day. If you’re unsure of whether or not it’s a bones or no bones go to my page and it’s the most recent video whatever that one is is what you go with.
I’m almost thinking instead of days we make them mirco eras. Like you’re in a bones micro era, so for for the next three days it’s all bones. Just to make it a little longer.
For the people in Australia if you get a bones video on your For You Page, go with that regardless of the date because that’s when the cosmic tip doctors gave it to you. If you don’t get one, go to my page and whichever the most recent one is, that is the one you roll with.
Any final thoughts?
It is insanity to me. A friend of mine sent me an article from a newscast in Sweden about Noodle. I am honestly just like you, I have the account, but I’m also just kind of sitting here staring just going what the shit is going on.