The dog's owner, Jonathan Graziano, said he had "no intention of" turning his pug into a TikTok star
Will it be a "Bones" or "No Bones" day? That's for one famous dog to decide.
Meet Noodle – a 13-year-old pug that has taken the internet by storm with his daily mood readings on TikTok.
In August, Noodle's owner Jonathan Graziano, 30, started posting "Bones or No Bones" videos — his filmed attempts to get his dog out of bed each morning. The clips quickly captured the attention of millions of users, many of whom now check in daily for Noodle's prediction.
During an Oct. 20 appearance on The Today Show, Graziano said he had "no intention of" having his pug become an international gauge for mental health.
"Noodle has brought joy to so many people online, I can't believe it," he told the hosts. "This 'No Bones' is something that I would just do as a silly little ritual for us in the morning for us to check in and see how he was doing. And then it took off and people started using it as a forecast for how their day was going to go."
Almost every morning, Graziano sets up his camera in front of Noodle's bed and hits record before propping up the pug in an upright position. If Noodle stands on his own when Graziano lets him go, it's a "Bones" day. If the pug flops back down, it's a "No Bones" day.
But what are "Bones" and "No Bones" days exactly?
On a "Bones" day, people are encouraged to take on the world with zeal and treat themselves to something nice. As Graziano noted on Today, the goal is to use the day to feed one's ambitions and complete tasks that have been put off.
A "No Bones" day isn't necessarily a bad one, however. Instead, Graziano promotes it as a day for self-care. In his video from Oct. 26, the creator told followers to "be kind to yourself" and "do something nice for yourself."
Graziano welcomed Noodle to the family when the pup was about 7 ½ years old. During an appearance on Today, he said that his canine companion has always made it clear each morning whether or not he wants to get out of bed.
More than five years later, the daily "Bones" day readings have taken the world by storm.
Graziano was initially surprised by the popularity of his videos but chose to "lean into it" as his audience grew. He told Today that response to his TikTok video has been "overwhelming" and "incredible."
Some have even reached out to Noodle's owner to share how the pug's predictions have impacted their lives.
"I get mentions from people who say it was a 'Bones' day, so they decided to propose to their partner [or] they put a downpayment on their house," Graziano told the Today hosts. "A woman said the other day that it was a 'Bones' day so she bought a lotto ticket and won half a million dollars."
Whether it's a "Bones" day or not, Graziano is simply happy that his content is having such a profound impact on people around the globe. "[Noodle] is the light of my life and to get to share him with people is really, really special," he said on Today.
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