Grim

Notes

British folklore has a long history of spectral black dogs, including one called the Padfoot, which is Sirius's Marauder nickname. Others include the Barghest of Yorkshire and Black Shuck of East Anglia, as well as the Gytrash (CS/g) and the Churchyard Beast. Probably the most famous giant hound on the lonely moors is Arthur Conan Doyle's story "The Hound of the Baskervilles" featuring Sherlock Holmes. (Wikipedia)

The spectral dog typically foretells death, but in some cases the creature is benevolent.

From Mysterious Britain:

In local traditions the black dogs sightings are seen as death portents, especially those seen in ancient churchyards in the form of the Church or Kirk Grim (Kirk being the Scottish word for Church), which is thought to represent a folk memory of a sacrifice. The black dog that used to haunt Peel castle and a nearby graveyard on the Isle of Man, is one such grim, it is said to have scared a sentry to death. Other sightings from the South of England, have been related to coincidental sudden deaths.

One or more black dogs allegedly contributed to the injury and death supposedly caused by the Pendleton witches in 1612, according to the History Channel documentary Witches: A Century of Murder and to Wikipedia. -BB

An ominous black dog connected to evil and witchcraft appears in The Witch of Edmonton, a 1621 play by Thomas Dekker, John Ford, and William Rowley. -BB

Some fans have speculated that Sirius Black's Animagus form is not just a big black dog, but actually The Grim, since whenever he's around, something terrible happens or someone dies.

• Sirius bullied Snape and played the Werewolf Prank to lure him to the Shrieking Shack and a possible early death if James hadn't saved him. A week later James started bullying Snape to cheer Sirius up, which led to "Snape's Worst Memory" of his breakup with his best friend Lily.
• After Sirius left home, his brother Regulus became a Death Eater and died trying to destroy a horcrux, and his mother went insane.
• Sirius decided not to become James and Lily's Secret Keeper, but to give the responsibility to Peter Pettigrew, a choice that left the Potters in ultimate danger.
• When Sirius broke out of Azkaban and showed up at Hogwarts the consequences were "grim" indeed. The portrait of the Fat Lady was knifed and traumatized, Harry was surrounded by Dementors and fell from his broom, Ron broke his leg, Snape was knocked unconscious, Lupin forgot his Werewolf potion and lost his job, and Peter Pettigrew escaped to find Lord Voldemort.
• Padfoot returned to Hogwarts just before Mr. Crouch and Cedric Diggory died.
• When Sirius returned to Grimmauld Place in OP, his cruelty to Kreacher in throwing the Elf out of the house led Bellatrix and Lucius to concoct the plot to lure Harry to the Department of Mysteries. How did they do it? With a vision of Sirius being tortured by Voldemort.
•   At the Battle at the Department of Mysteries, Sirius himself fell through the Veil and died because he kept duelling with Bellatrix Lestrange after the battle was over.