Dog trainer Jules Tottman tells PEOPLE what it was like working with Wade Wilson’s talented four-legged sidekick

The canine star of Deadpool & Wolverine had an unusual path to Hollywood.

Peggy, a 5-year-old pug and Chinese crested mix with a protruding tongue, was rescued by a family before winning the title of Britain’s Ugliest Dog in 2023 and being cast as Wade Wilson’s four-legged sidekick Dogpool in the new Marvel blockbuster.

Jules Tottman, Peggy’s trainer for the film, tells PEOPLE Disney found the pooch via internet research after she’d won the contest due to her quirky looks, though she adds, “We think she’s beautiful.”

While Peggy was “a little bit nervous” initially, Tottman says she “just blossomed and bloomed and became Dogpool.”

Tottman began training Peggy at home to establish trust because film sets can be “quite scary,” she explains. She then moved their sessions to a village hall with friends in attendance to build Peggy’s confidence before finally introducing her to the film set.

“It takes about three months to get them really ready because you want to do it super slow,” she says. “You don’t want to traumatize them or frighten them.”

When Tottman first met Peggy, the pooch seemed “wary” of people, but she says that quickly changed.

“Thankfully, the pug in her makes her extremely greedy,” she observes. “So, as soon as she understood the concept of training, she was obsessed with it. In fact, we’d do six sessions a day, and she’d be, ‘Let’s do more, let’s do more, let’s do more.’ And I’d be like, ‘Pegs, come on. I need a rest now.'”

Peggy the dog attends the ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ special screening hosted by Dogpool. 

“She was absolutely brilliant, and she came around so quickly,” she adds. “It was just amazing to watch, and she loved every minute of it.”

The movie’s human stars, Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, were “pretty smitten” with Peggy, according to Tottman.

“She totally had them wrapped around her little paw,” Tottman says.

In the film, Dogpool warms up to Deadpool (Reynolds) after initially being the companion of Deadpool variant Nicepool (also played by Reynolds). The canine character also shares screen time with Jackman’s Wolverine.

Tottman says one of Peggy’s favorite tricks in the movie was jumping into Reynolds’ arms, which took about eight weeks to learn. The actor had a small buzzer hidden in his costume, and Tottman taught Peggy to make the big leap whenever it was activated.

“She got so confident that anyone that walked past, she started trying to lunge to jump into their arms,” she recalls. “So that became a thing. Now she’s gone home; her owners probably won’t thank me for that.”

Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman pose with Peggy. 

Peggy took quite a liking to Reynolds on set, Tottman adds.

“All the licking was just the funniest thing,” she says. “I mean, quite often, we had to cut because it was so hilarious. The more confident she got, the more she would get her tongue right in Ryan’s mouth, and he was such a sport. Not once did he complain, and we just had so much fun.”

Tottman hopes moviegoers will be inspired to adopt a rescue dog after seeing Peggy shine onscreen.

“It doesn’t matter what they look like,” she says. “They are all so special and so loving.”

When asked to describe Peggy’s personality, she adds, “She’s hilarious. She’s a diva. She’s quirky, cute, loving, honest. She’s a little legend.”

Tottman says she’s been “blown away” by viewers’ response to Dogpool.

“Everyone seems to love her, and I’ve had the most amazing letters and emails,” she says. “Everyone’s absolutely besotted with her.”