Owner of late Rochester dog visits local bookstore
Noodle the Pug became a sensation on TikTok
The owner of Noodle the Pug, Jonathan Graziano, recently visited Hippocampo Children’s Books for a reading of his new book, “Noodle Conquers Comfy Mountain.”
The Noodle became very popular two years ago on TikTok with “no bones,” a game Graziano played and recorded almost every morning to see if Noodle would stand up or simply flop back onto his bed.
If Noodle stood up alone, Graziano declared it a “Bones Day.” If Noodle flopped over, it was a “No Bones Day” — a rest day for the senior pup and his fans. For seven years, Jonathan Graziano lovingly took care of Noodle until his passing in December 2022 and hopes to keep his legacy alive by sharing fond memories of Noodle.
‘Noodle the Pug’ owner is from Rochester
While visiting family for the holidays, the Rochester native stopped by the beloved bookstore to sign copies of Noodle Conquers Comfy Mountain. Families that fell in love with the pug received a stamp of Noodle’s paw in their book and an exclusive Q&A with Graziano.
Answers have been edited for clarity and length:
Why was he named Noodle?
So you know how pugs have those really curly tails? Those really tight curled tails? Noodle never curled his tail. Even when he was happy, he never curled his tail. So his mom named him Noodle because his tail looked like a wet noodle.
It was a very appropriate name for him. I adopted Noodle when he was 8 years old and he came with the name Noodle. And they were updating his microchip and the vet said, Do you want to change his name? And I said, To what?
Why did I feed Noodle cheese balls?
When Noodle got older, he had some meds he had to take every day. He had one for his arthritis, and he had a happy pill. But he’d get a cheese ball every morning because he would fuss whenever I’d give it to him. He wouldn’t just kind of eat it, so I’d hide it in a cheese ball. But the problem was it had to be an American cheese single, so it couldn’t actually be cheese.
There’s an illustration of me putting his cheese balls together. In the first draft, the illustrator put all these little pill bottles over here. And I have the photo that I’ll show you, but I remember being like, I would do anything to keep this, but the age is four to eight so we’re gonna pull that back.
Why does a little spider appear in the illustrations?
The little spider in this is a signature of the illustrator, Dan. Uh, he’s illustrated a few kids’ books, and in all of the books that he illustrates, he likes to add those little creatures. He said that what he’s learned is that when a kid is reading a book, there’s the main illustration, and then there’s the things they look for on the page. So the spiders were something he added because he thought they were really cute and really fun.
I don’t know if you’ve ever watched, like, My Neighbor Totoro, or Spirited Away by Hayao Miyazaki, but in the movies, they have these little black, tiny, fluffy little creatures called soot sprites. And that’s what those remind me of, I love them.
Now that Noodle is not here, would you get another pug?
Absolutely. I have all the wipes. I’ve got a whole medicine cabinet that is filled. I’ve got the wipes, I’ve got the nose butter. But I’ve been fostering pups, there’s a rescue that’s here called SNORT Rescue, and I foster these two little pug puppies with them. They end up going by Rigatoni and Macaroni. So, noodle namesakes.
Rigatoni is with a family in Pennsylvania. His mom works as a park ranger. So he goes to a state park every day with a little bark ranger kerchief on. He teaches dogs about animal safety. And Macaroni went to a rich family in New Jersey.
But fostering has been a really wonderful way to kind of navigate this time. And I would totally recommend it. It’s heartbreaking. You fall in love and then they leave, but it’s totally worth it because then you’ll get updates every now and then saying, “What size is her sweater?”
When you were a little kid, what books did you enjoy reading?
When I was a kid, my favorite books were To Give a Mouse a Cookie, Goodnight Moon, and Stellaluna, Which is a deep cut, but I remember Stellaluna. There was one called There was one with a fish who had glittery scales.
You remember? Rainbow Fish! Rainbow Fish. There was one at the Brighton Library that I always checked out, but it scared me. It was about a witch who lived under the stairs.
If you could have any mythical, magical creature as a pet, what would it be?
Aside from Noodle? Yeah. I would have a unicorn. I would have a unicorn. There’s a lot of utility in a horse. And just the whimsy of a horn. Would really go with a unicorn. A narwhal would be fun, but that’d be too much upkeep.
Genae Shields is the business & development impact reporter. Reach out at gshields@gannett.com or on Instagram: @genaebriphoto for questions, comments, or concerns. Thank you for your continued support!