Dominic Young scored his third career hat-trick after the Knights raced out to a 16-0 halftime lead at Accor Stadium on Saturday and then survived a late fightback from the Dogs.
Newcastle were without captain Kalyn Ponga and five-eighth Dylan Brown due to injury, while starting prop Trey Mooney was sidelined with suspension.
Last year's wooden spooners, the Knights boast a 3-1 record under new coach Justin Holbrook in what represents their best start to a season since 2020.
But Ciraldo was clearly put out by the Dogs' lacklustre showing as they failed to fire in front of a crowd of 20,572.
"I'm just disappointed with the performance, we were nowhere near where we wanted to be," Ciraldo said.
"I thought we were brave for long periods defending, but then there were some soft decisions under fatigue, and that's why we went in at halftime at 16-0 down."
The Knights went over after six minutes through Young and then withstood a period of pressure when Dylan Lucas was sinbinned for a professional foul.
After forcing five goal-line drop-outs, the introduction of Harrison Graham gave the Knights the spark that meant Tyson Frizell and Lucas scored late in the first half to put the Dogs on the back foot.
Ciraldo looked for impetus by shifting Matt Burton to centre and deploying Stephen Crichton at five-eighth for periods of the second half.
"We need Critta getting the ball in his hands," Ciraldo said.
"I thought he showed some great signs when he got closer to the action and we looked a bit more dangerous."
Burton grabbed two tries straight after halftime but Young then responded with two breakaway efforts to swing victory for the Knights.
Jacob Kiraz crossed late on but Newcastle held on to record their first win without Ponga in 11 attempts.
"That's so good for our club and our playing group," Holbrook said.
"I was confident we could get the win and everyone had to play well.
"We had to save some tries - Canterbury don't give you much - and we took our chances."
Bulldogs trio Viliame Kikau, Lachlan Galvin (both hip-drop tackles) and Max King (crusher) were all placed on report and could be in doubt for Good Friday's meeting with South Sydney.
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