Barry the Saint Bernard: The Alpine Rescue Dog Who Saved 40 Lives
Barry was a mountain rescue dog who lived at the Great St Bernard Hospice in the Swiss Alps around 1800. He is credited with saving more than forty people lost in snow and fog, and today he is the most famous dog in the history of the breed that took the hospice's name.
Quick Facts
- Who: Barry, a hospice dog, ancestor of today's Saint Bernard
- Where: Great St Bernard Pass, Swiss Alps
- When: Born 1800, worked at the hospice about 12 years, died 1814
- Known for: More than 40 credited rescues
- Today: Preserved at the Natural History Museum of Bern
The Hospice on the Pass
The Great St Bernard Pass sits high on the border between Switzerland and Italy. Snow can linger there into summer, and storms come in fast. For centuries, monks at the hospice at the top took in travellers, and from the 1600s they kept large dogs to help find people caught in bad weather.
What Did Barry Do?
When fog and snow rolled across the pass, travellers lost the path. Barry went out with the monks to find them. Over his working life he is credited with more than forty rescues, the traditional total recorded by the hospice and the museum that holds him today.
Two Famous Myths
Many pictures show a Saint Bernard with a small barrel of brandy around its neck. Barry never carried one. The barrel came later, from paintings, and was never real rescue equipment.
Another popular story says Barry was killed on his forty-first rescue, by a man who mistook him for a wolf. That is not true either. After about twelve years on the pass, the monks sent him to Bern to live out his retirement, and he died there in 1814 at the age of fourteen.
Where Is Barry Now?
Barry was preserved and is on display at the Natural History Museum of Bern. In his honor, the hospice kept naming one of its dogs Barry, and the Barry Foundation, which took over the breeding in 2005, continues the tradition.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did Barry the Saint Bernard carry a brandy barrel?
No. The barrel became popular through later art. It was not equipment Barry wore.
How many people did Barry save?
He is credited with more than forty rescues.
How did Barry die?
He retired to Bern and died there in 1814, aged fourteen. The story that he died on a rescue is a myth.
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- Pickles: The Dog Who Found the Stolen World Cup
- Famous War Animals: 10 Animal War Heroes Who Saved Lives
For Dog Lovers
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Barry's story for young readers: Dog Diaries #3: Barry, the Alpine rescue told from the dog's point of view (4.8 stars). See it on Amazon
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Sources
- Barry Foundation: History: Barry, the hospice and the naming tradition
- Natural History Museum of Bern: Barry: his rescues, retirement and the myths
- Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs: the St Bernard legend
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Cover photo: PraktikantinNMBE via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.