Western Bulldogs have advanced their claim to a place in the finals and dealt Carlton's top-four prospects an untimely setback with an upset 23-point win at Etihad Stadium.

Trailing by 27 points early in the second quarter, the Bulldogs reeled-off the next seven goals and held fast to get up 14.12 (96) to 9.15 (69).

The Bulldogs have moved to within two points of the top eight while the Blues have slipped to fourth, just two points clear of the rampaging Eagles.

With Collingwood to come next Saturday, the Blues are suddenly faced with the prospect of three losses in four weeks.

Sunday's contest was a triumph for efficiency over wastefulness.

The Bulldogs were clobbered in just about every meaningful statistical category including disposals (312-382), contested possessions (154-166), tackles (83-92), hitouts (62-34) and clearances (38-51), but finished in front where it counts, on the scoreboard.

A hard tag from Liam Picken forced Carlton star Marc Murphy to roam far and wide for his game-high 35 disposals.

But it was the Bulldogs who won the midfield battle through the collective efforts of Adam Cooney who had 31 touches, Matthew Boyd (25), Callan Ward (21), Daniel Cross (21) and Ryan Griffen who converted two of his 17 possessions into crucial goals.

The Bulldogs were first to score through Barry Hall and the Blues took all of 16 minutes to post a reply from a kick off the ground by Kade Simpson.

David Ellard made it two in a row for Carlton after nabbing Ben Hudson in possession before Liam Jones levelled-up from an uncontested mark in the forward pocket.

Carlton dominated the first-term clearances 14-6 and won seven frees to the Bulldogs' one, but squandered the benefits with a return of just two goals from nine scoring shots.

They made good with a burst of four goals straight in the opening eight minutes of the second quarter, two of them from extremely harsh 50-metre penalties that had the Bulldogs fans fuming.

As if stung by the injustice of it all, the Dogs responded with four-goal burst of their own that included a freakish dribbling effort from Hall and one that was scuffed through off Griffen's shins.

A worry for the Blues was the contribution of forwards Jeff Garlett, Eddie Betts, Andrew Walker and Jarrad Waite who had just five effective disposals between them for the half.

An out-of-sorts Waite was given a torrid time by Tom Williams before being subbed off late in the second term.

The Bulldogs landed the opening three majors of the third term - the best of them a snap from Cooney against the run of play - to make it a seven-goal run before Mitch Robinson stopped the rot with the Blues' first in 42 minutes of play.

Another goal apiece left the Bulldogs holding a precious 16-point lead going into the final term.

Griffen landed the all-important opening goal of the final term in the first minute of play from a 50-metre penalty after Ellard encroached on the mark.

The contest was reduced to an arm-wrestle and Carlton never looked like scoring until the 15-minute mark when Walker marked and goaled to give

But a Boyd intercept on the wing moments later forced a turnover that Hall was able to convert for his fourth and the sealer.

WESTERN BULLDOGS: 2.4, 6.7, 11.9, 14.12 (96)
CARLTON: 2.7, 6.9, 8.11, 9.15 (69)

GOALS: Western Bulldogs: Hall 4, Hooper 2, Griffen 2, Jones, Gilbee, Dahlhaus, Cooney, Ward, Giansiracusa
Carlton: Simpson 2, Ellard, Murphy, Joseph, Gibbs, Betts, Robinson, Walker
BEST: Western Bulldogs: Ward, Griffen, Cooney, Williams, Higgins, Hall
Carlton: Murphy, Robinson, Gibbs, Judd, Simpson, Warnock,
INJURIES: Western Bulldogs: Nil
Carlton: Nil
REPORTS: Nil
CHANGES: Andrew Carrazzo replaced by Aaron Joseph in Carlton's selected side
UMPIRES: M.Nicholls, Chamberlain, Meredith
CROWD: 38,582 at Etihad Stadium