Canterbury survived a late St George Illawarra fightback to run out 28-20 winners in Wollongong on Friday night to move into second spot on the NRL ladder.
The Bulldogs were coasting when leading 28-6 shortly after halftime thanks to try doubles from Josh Reynolds and Josh Morris, but having shown little life over the opening 50 minutes the Dragons surged back to give the visitors a fright.
Three tries in the space of 15 minutes brought the Dragons to within eight points with 15 minutes remaining, although Jamie Soward's missed conversion of Matt Cooper's 65th-minute try kept the Bulldogs out of reach as the home side lost their fifth game in six matches.
Former Warrior Krisnan Inu scored another try for Canterbury.
