TikTok star Noodle the Pug, who determined whether the day would be a 'bones' or 'no bones' day, dies at age 14

Noodle the Pug, who rose to stardom on social media, has died at age 14. (Photo: Nathan Congleton/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)
Noodle the Pug, who rose to stardom on social media, has died at age 14. (Photo: Nathan Congleton/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)

Noodle the Pug, the beloved TikTok dog known for determining whether it was a "No Bones Day," has died at age 14.

Noodle's death was announced on his social media pages by his owner, Jonathan Graziano.

“I am so sorry to have to share this, but Noodle passed yesterday. He was at home, he was in my arms, and this is incredibly sad, it’s incredibly difficult,” a tearful Graziano shared on his TikTok account, which has more than 4.5 million followers. “It’s a day that I always knew was coming but never thought would arrive."

In the video's caption, Graziano shared that "it has been the privilege of my life to care for Noodle these past 7 years."

"The sweetest man there has ever been and will ever be," he wrote, along with a heart emoji.

In the video, Graziano encouraged fans and followers to celebrate Noodle's memory.

“Although this is very sad, I wanted to let you know and I wanted to encourage you to celebrate him while we’re navigating this sadness. He lived 14-and-a-half years, which is about as long as you can hope a dog can, and he made millions of people happy. What a run. Thank you for loving him," Graziano shared. "Thank you for embracing us, and give your dog a cheese ball tonight. But it has to be the fake stuff."

Noodle was even featured in a children's book written by Graziano, appropriately titled Noodle and the No Bones Day. The concept came about after Graziano would wake Bones up to go outside. The pug would promptly flop over (a "no bones" day) or get up ready to move.

Last year, Graziano appeared on Today with Noodle, and explained how the "no bones" trend took off.

“This ‘no bones’ video is something that I would just do as a silly little ritual for us in the morning to check in and see how he was doing. And then it took off. People starting using it as a forecast for how their day was going to go and I leaned into it. We all need a little positivity right now," said Graziano.

The trend took off, and followers began to use the hashtag "no bones" to chronicle their own ambition for the day.

"I get mentions from people who say that it was a ‘bones day’ so they decided to propose to their partner. They put a down payment on their house. A woman the other day said it was a ‘bones day,’ so she bought a lotto ticket and won half a million dollars," Graziano continued.

In the comments section of Noodle's pages and on social media, fans celebrated the canine companion.

"It will now and forever be a bones day," one TikTok commenter shared.

Doug the Pug, another famous social media pet, called Bones "a great friend."

"I will lay on the floor for the rest of the day in this sadness," one follower wrote.

Another fan called Noodle's death "the worst news to come out of 2022."

"I think I'm going to drown my sorrows in Kraft Singles," one follower shared.

In a March interview with The Spruce Pets, Graziano explained how he came to adopt Noodle in the first place.

"I had just gotten this job at BarkBox where I was able to take a dog to work with me," he said. "It was just circumstance, this woman came up to me at an event and said she knew I was looking to adopt a dog and asked if I had any interest in a 7-year-old pug named Noodle. I hadn’t thought too critically about it, but she showed me his photo and I was just like, ‘Yeah, let’s do it.’ There was very something ‘the wand chooses the wizard’ about it. He just came to me and he had this sweet little photo and I was like, ‘What if I took care of this old pug for as long as I can?' And here we are almost 6 years later. It’s amazing."

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