The Kangaroos trailed by 10 points at the first change but kicked five goals to none in the second term to seize the initiative.
They led by 38-points early in the third term before a late rally by the Dogs sliced the advantage to two goals at the last change.
Having let a six-goal lead slip last week and standing at a precarious 3-6 coming into the match, the Roos were not about to make the same mistake and kicked away in the final term to win 19.11.125 to 11.13.79.
However the injury to Carey took some shine off the win.
Ten minutes into the second quarter he was preparing to leap for a mark in the goalsquare and, with eyes on the ball, he stood on teammate Corey McKernan's foot, badly rolling his left ankle in the process.
Helped off the ground by trainers and in considerable pain, Carey had the ankle strapped and left the ground on crutches at the main break, with fear of a break and expectation of ligament damage.
The Bulldogs made the better of scoring opportunities in the first quarter, with Saverio Rocca and Brent Harvey's gettable misses proving the difference between the teams.
McKernan - reborn after a recent stint in the VFL - took over in the second term.
He wobbled through a goal on the run, kicked a second snap while sitting on the ground in the same contest that saw Carey injured and got a third for the quarter from a charitable freekick.
The Bulldogs, perhaps sapped by two consecutive interstate trips or maybe over-confident after three straight wins, looked flat in the second quarter and that extended into the third.
The Kangaroos kicked away to a 38-point lead when the improved Byron Pickett goaled before Dogs captain Chris Grant and Nathan Brown kicked two each and Simon Garlick added another to slash the advantage to 12 points at the last change.
The Bulldogs needed the opening goal of the last term to turn the screws on the Roos but instead it was the 1999 premiers who got the first six goals of the term to revive the team's finals hopes.
Anthony Stevens was his usual hard-tackling, long-kicking self to dominate for the Roos, with McKernan, Pickett, Matthew Burton and David King among the other top contributors.
The Bulldogs had several good players - Grant, Scott West, Luke Darcy, Kingsley Hunter and Tony Liberatore - but had more than that number in passengers contributing next to nothing.
Scoreboard:
KANGAROOS: 1.4, 6.8, 10.10, 19.11 (125)
WESTERN BULLDOGS: 3.2, 3.5, 8.9, 11.13 (79)
Goals: Kangaroos: C McKernan 6 S Rocca 3 B Pickett 2 B Harvey 2 D King 2 B Rawlings A Simpson J McLaren S Clayton. Western Bulldogs: C Grant 3 N Brown 3 S Garlick S West L Darcy T Bartlett K Hunter.
Best: Kangaroos: A Stevens C McKernan B Pickett D King B Harvey S Grant. Western Bulldogs: C Grant K Hunter L Darcy T Liberatore S West N Brown.
Injuries: Kangaroos: Carey (ankle). Bulldogs: Nil.
Reports: Nil.
Umpires: B Sheehan D Goldspink M James
Official crowd: 32,793 at Colonial Stadium.
