Boy was sufficiently impressive and famous across Europe that the Ottoman Sultan of the day, Murad IV, requested that his ambassador attempt to find him a similar animal.

Boy was also "able" to find hidden treasure, was invulnerable to attack, could catch bullets fired at Rupert in his mouth, and prophesy as well as the 16th-century soothsayer, Mother Shipton.

[8] Reportedly, Boy had other endearing attributes, such as cocking his leg when he heard the name of John Pym, leader of the Parliamentarian forces.

The battle went badly for the Royalists, and Rupert was forced to flee the field; Boy was killed during the ensuing fighting.

He was prominently depicted in woodcut scenes drawn of the battle at the time, lying upside down, dead;[11] Simon Ash, a contemporary historian of the event, drew specific attention to the death of this 'much spoken of' dog.