He has been described as the most famous St. Bernard, as he was credited with saving more than 40 lives during his lifetime, hence his byname Menschenretter meaning "people rescuer" in German.

His skin has been preserved through taxidermy although his skull was modified in 1923 to match the Saint Bernard of that time period.

[3] Old skulls from the collection of the Natural History Museum of Bern show that at least two types of dog lived at the hospice.

[5] Measurements of his preserved body show that Barry was significantly smaller and lighter built than the modern Saint Bernard, weighing between 40 and 45 kilograms (88 and 99 lb) whereas modern Bernards weigh between 54 and 81kg (120 to 180lbs) His current mounted height is approximately 64 centimetres (25 in), but the living Barry would have been slightly smaller.

[9] The Natural History Museum of Bern disputes the legend, attributing it to Peter Scheitlin,[10] an animal psychologist.

Your tenderness was so easy to communicate, that the boy you dug out had no fear to let you bring him, holding on to your back, to the Hospice.There is a plaque on a monument in the Cimetière des Chiens pet cemetery in France which states, "Il sauva la vie à 40 personnes.

Barry was searching for the soldier and had picked up the scent, some forty-eight hours old, and finally stopped before a large bank of ice.

[12] James Watson in his 1906 work The Dog Book attributed the rumour to fellow author Idstone, also known as Reverend Thomas Pearce.

After twelve years of service at the monastery, Barry was brought by a monk to Bern, Switzerland so that he could live out the rest of his life.

[18] The English called the breed "sacred dogs", while the German Kynology proposed the name "Alpendog" in 1828.

[21] He was originally given a humble and meek pose, as the taxidermist felt that this would serve as a reminder of servitude to future generations.

A barrel was added hanging from his collar,[5] following the popularization of the myth of the monastery's dogs using these during the rescues, which was originally introduced by Edwin Landseer's work Alpine Mastiffs Reanimating a Distressed Traveller.

[25][26] Henry Bordeaux praised Barry's work in his 1911 novel La Neige sur les pas.