Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo pulled a masterstroke by leaving playmaker Lachlan Galvin out to boost his forward stocks.
The visitors omitted Galvin and included forward Kurtis Morrin on the bench to give them forward depth with NSW prop Max King backing up from State of Origin.
Morrin was superb, as were big guns Matt Burton, Viliame Kikau and Reed Mahoney.
The win entrenched Canterbury in the top four after two straight losses.
"I thought it was a really tough performance. It was clunky at times but I was really happy with the boys' effort," Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo said.
"It was an incredible effort. We just had to scrap out a win tonight."
The second half was scoreless and went right down to the final play when Bulldogs winger Jacob Kiraz tapped a Tom Dearden kick dead.
Canterbury rested State of Origin representatives Stephen Crichton and Kurt Mann and gave winger Jethro Rinakama his NRL debut.
Rinakama was superb and scored late in the first half after great work on the inside by Burton to give his side a 12-8 lead at halftime.
There was huge drama in the 59th minute when Burton and Morrin both went off for HIAs. In the ensuing minutes Cowboys fullback Scott Drinkwater lost the ball in the process of scoring with Bulldogs star Kikau knocking the ball loose with a desperate tackle against his former club.Â
Burton and Morrin both returned and helped their side hang on.
"It would have been nice to have Lachie (Galvin) on there when Burto' went off but I thought we needed four forwards on the bench with Kingy backing up from Origin and in Jaeman Salmon's first game back," Ciraldo said.
Canterbury were clunky in attack early but that was a tribute to the hosts' best defensive mentality of the season.
North Queensland centre Zac Laybutt, who had an ACL injury last year, stepped his way with great confidence to score the opening try.
Burton, back in his favoured No.6 position, laid on a try for back-rower Jacob Preston with a deft kick late in the half before Rinakama gave them the lead.
Mahoney tackled like a demon against the club he will join next year.
Cowboys co-captain Dearden, after winning the Wally Lewis Medal as player of the series for Queensland, was dominant and involved early in attack and defence.
The Bulldogs were not at their best but they are past masters at winning ugly. The Cowboys, on 17 points and three wins outside the top eight, are in danger of missing the finals.
"I watched a team that was connected and fighting hard throughout that entire 80 minutes but we have parts of our game that are costing us dearly and I am losing sleep at night trying to fix that," Cowboys coach Todd Payten said.
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