Henry makes it a dog’s world in downtown Granbury

Step aside city leaders, the real king of Granbury is about to take one of his two daily walks.

He’s Henry the dog, and when he’s out and about on the downtown square, everyone, it seems, clamors to spend a moment with the popular black peekapoo — a mix between a Pekingese and a poodle.

“He loves people back, that’s one reason he’s so popular,” said his owner, Janice Thompson, who lives in an apartment overlooking downtown. “When we go walking they ask him if he’s having a nice day. Every time we go to the bank they give him treats. Ron’s Pharmacy also gives him treats. The lady who owns Caylor Creek (Boutique), she’ll come running up and shout, ‘Oh, it’s my Henry.

“Say ‘Go’ and he’ll go down the stairs and get his own leash. And he knows to go to the Tahoe if I say we’re going to drive somewhere.”

These days, with the summer heat, Janice usually walks Henry in the morning and late at night. He loves to window shop in the evening and his morning visits are a great start to the day, for he, Janice and business owners and employees on the square.

“I love Henry. He’s our neighbor. He always greets me when I’m on the back porch setting up,” said Cat Kinsey, tasting room associate at Barons Creek Vineyards Tasting and Wine Room. “He’s very popular. He should have his own Facebook page.”

Doug Knippa, owner of Doug’s Sports House, calls Henry the “all over dog.”

“He’s the friendliest little dog I’ve ever seen. He shares his toys with me,” he said. “And he’s a good security dog — until he finds out who they are.”

Janice chuckled and said, “No pets allowed, he doesn’t understand that at all. I don’t take him where he’s not wanted, of course, but everybody wants him.”

Henry and Janice have been together for six years. She got him from a friend two months after he was born on Christmas eve.

“He’s a Christmas baby. A friend of mine called and said, ‘I have this puppy.’ I’d just lost the love of my life, a Lab, and I said I don’t want another dog. But then, I met him, he licked my face and we’ve been best buddies ever since.”

Henry knows a few tricks. He’ll sit for a treat, for example. And while it’s not technically a trick, if he doesn’t feel like going, he’ll let Janice know in his own way. He’ll take her flip flops off when she’s sitting down, or grab them when they’re on the floor.

“I think in his mind he’s saying, ‘You’re going to stay for a while,” she said with a laugh.

Henry loves hanging out in Janice’s garden just below their apartment. It was a great place to spend time with his best friend, a dog named Angus, the late “store dog” of the nearby Wagon Yard.

“When we’d let Angus out he’d go straight over to see Henry,” said Wagon Yard bookkeeper Patti Rowland. “Henry misses Angus.

“But everybody loves Henry. He’s part of our downtown.”

And Henry never misses a chance to do his civic duty, Janice said.

“He loves to go with me to the polls when I vote. They even give him a sticker,” Janice said, adding with a smile that Henry has his own “Four Paws campaign.”

“He stands in line with me. Everybody in line talks to him,” she continued, grinning and noting, “But he’s not political.”

Henry’s also popular with young folks, especially Janice’s nieces and nephews, she said.

“He loves it when they come over to visit. And he loves getting his toys out and playing with them,” she said. “He’ll growl, as if to say, ‘Take it back,’ and then he loves it when they get it and throw it.”

Riley Kirkpatrick is an employee at Arts & Letters Bookstore, which is directly below the apartment. Often, Henry will lie flat on the cool floor when Janice stops by for a visit.

“I like when he lays like that. It’s so cute. He’s also very sweet and polite,” Kirkpatrick said. “And I can hear him above when he has his zoomies (toys).”

Martha Attaway, an employee of First National Bank, said she and her fellow employees look forward to Henry’s visits. She said he reminds her a lot of one of her own dogs at home.

“He’s always so laid back — and he loves the biscuits (treats),” she said. “It’s always a good day when we get to see Henry.”