Second-half tries from Josh Curran, Jack Todd and Kurt Mann got the Bulldogs home at Accor Stadium on Sunday where an impressive crowd of 24,113 was on hand to witness the 'Dogs go 5-0 to start the season.
Not since 1993, a year in which they won the minor premiership, have Canterbury started a season so strongly.
Sitting in first spot, they will enjoy a bye ahead of a bumper Good Friday clash with South Sydney in which five-eighth Matt Burton and barnstorming back-rower Viliame Kikau are both expected to return.
Many would have expected the Bulldogs to endure a dip when Burton and Kikau limped out of their round two clash with Gold Coast, but it is to their credit that they have barely missed a beat.
It didn't help Newcastle's hopes of ending Canterbury's unbeaten start that they lost two men inside the opening two minutes.
Winger James Schiller failed a head injury assessment after a head clash with Bulldogs front-rower Daniel Suluka-Fifita before Knights prop Jacob Saifiti limped off 30 seconds later with a suspected calf injury.
It left Newcastle coach Adam O'Brien with just 15 fit bodies to see out the next 78 minutes.
But what they lacked in fluidity they made up for in spirit and effort with Bradman Best leading the charge in a back-and-forth battle with Canterbury captain Stephen Crichton.
There was a collective gasp when Crichton lay down for treatment for a shoulder injury midway through the first half but after a lengthy delay the Bulldogs skipper was back on his feet.
Crichton's fourth-minute penalty goal - the result of an illegal Tyson Frizell strip on Max King - was all that separated the two sides at the interval.
It took until the 42nd minute for Canterbury to find a way through with Jacob Kiraz batting back a Toby Sexton kick, which Curran patted down to finish.
Soon after Newcastle hooker Phoenix Crossland was sin-binned for a trip, interchange prop Todd grabbed his first NRL try by hitting a short line against a retreating defence.
To add to the Knights' woes, prop Jack Hetherington succumbed to a shoulder injury and while they hung in the fight, Mann's 70th-minute barge-over in his 200th NRL game condemned them to defeat.
10°C