“No Spoons or No Bones Day?” How one Pug on TikTok is changing the discourse on disability, energy, and chronic illness

Noodle the Pug is a TikTok sensation. Here’s why thousands of viewers tune in every day to see whether or not he has bones.

Dr. Casey Lawrence
9 min readOct 23, 2021

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Photo by Rebecca Campbell on Unsplash (not Noodle)

It all started with a thirteen-year-old pug named Noodle. Every morning a man named Jon Graziano on TikTok (@ Jongraz) checks to see if his very old pug has any bones, and the TikTok world is fascinated. He does this by picking up Noodle, who is a very chubby, sleepy pup, and standing him on his feet in his soft dog bed. Noodle then decides how everyone’s day will go by doing one of two things: flopping back into bed, or standing on his own two feet.

“Good morning everyone, and welcome back to yet another round of ‘No Bones,’ the game where we figure out of my 13-year-old pug woke up with bones, and as a result we figure out what kind of day we’re gonna have.”

Most days are “no bones days” for Noodle. He is very tired and would very much like to go back to sleep. For a dog as old as Noodle (pugs live an average of 12–15 years), getting up in the morning can be very strenuous. His “bones days” might be far and few between, but they inspire his loyal TikTok following to seize the day and make…

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Dr. Casey Lawrence

Canadian author of three LGBT YA novels. PhD from Trinity College Dublin. Check out my lists for stories by genre/type.