Also, bulldogs are specifically a cowboy boot making tool. Here’s why: The vamp of a cowboy boot is one big flat piece of leather that has to be strongly convinced to become a three-dimensional shape. A shoe or a lace-up boot has a great deal of shape created with the patterning – anytime you have a seam, you can create curves. You can easily over-pull when lasting a shoe. I learned this the hard way. I’m a cowboy boot maker so I thought everything had to be cranked down tight.
I actually have a pair of shoe shank pullers. I found them when I visited Barnsley; they were making them but didn’t even know what they were. I figured out they were shank pullers but didn’t understand why they were shaped weird. I finally tried them and understood immediately. They are specifically shaped for the shank area, but if you pull too hard the leather slips out of the teeth, so you can’t overdo it.