I searched for the origin of this term and found that it was the title of first Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy movie. Stan is homeless in the street and is befriended by a stray dog. There are a series of events including the dog making friends with a poodle, a dog show, a jealous boyfriend, etc. Wikipedia says Laurel and Hardy play independently of one another and are “…not the comedic team they would later become.” Of course calling someone a “lucky dog” means that you believe they are very fortunate.

There are apparently stories that the word “luck” was derived from “Lucifer.” Randomhouse dispels that by explaining that the two words come from different origins. “The word luck was borrowed from Middle Dutch or Low German…It seems to have been first popularized as a gambling term.” Lucifer is Old English derived from Latin “lux” or light and ferre “to bear; carry.” The use of Lucifer as an epithet for Satan comes a passage in Isaiah 14:12, which refers to a king of Babylon who was compared to the morning star. The passage has been interpreted to refer to the fall of the archangel hurled from heaven because of wickedness.

Theodore Roosevelt became President in 1901when William McKinley, who had strong support of industry titans, was assassinated. Roosevelt used the phrase “Square Deal” as his campaign slogan in 1904. Roosevelt was a Progressive who had strong belief corporations had too much power over workers. The slogan was based on the “3 C’s.” These were Control of Corporations, Consumer Protection, and Conservation of Natural Resources.

The Phrase Finder defines this idiom as meaning a burdensome possession that creates more trouble than it is worth. Albino elephants were considered holy in ancient Thailand. A subordinate who displeased the Thai King would be given a white elephant, and the cost of the special food and providing access to worshipers would often ruin the person receiving the gift.

The Phrase Finder explains that the expression means to cause trouble or create an uproar. The verb “to raise” has been used to mean “to conjure up and to cause a spirit to appear.” If you are making trouble you are raising or conjuring up “…the accursed spirit of Cain” who had murdered his brother Abel.