Black dogs get a bad rap, I think. Someone used to refer to his bouts of depression as "black dog days"--can't remember who. And everyone knows what they say about black cats.

It might just be her generation. I think women of that generation have very definite ideas of beauty, and they trend toward the traditional. My grandmother says some weird things too. For example, once she referred to a woman as "too tall." (She was about 6 feet, yes, but I thought she looked great. I'd LOVE to be that tall!)