Kelley Blackston – Owner and Behaviorist

Kelley has been training dogs for nine years. She has a masters degree in the humanities and has run Beaufort Dog boarding, training, and day care for a number of years. She has also taught at the college level for ten years.

Rebecca Ponce – Manager and Behaviorist

Rebecca got her start in dogs at a young age, growing up with beagles, German shepherds, labs, and golden retrievers. While she always had a passion for animals, she went on to college to earn her Bachelors degree in Human Services. It was during her senior internship that Rebecca took a special interest in dogs again. While interning in social services at a nursing home, Rebecca was able to bring her family golden retriever to be used as a therapy dog and for animal assisted activities. Not only was Rebecca fascinated with the miracle of of the presence of an animal in a persons life, but she became passionate about using animals—particularly dogs—as a therapeutic aide. With these goals in mind, she got Bam-Bam, an English Mastiff who is in training to be a therapy dog.  A year later they added a second Mastiff, Reyna, to the family. Rebecca currently resides in Beaufort with her husband, Ivan, a U.S. Marine, and is taking online classes to be a veterinary technician.

Michael Moriera – Head Groomer and Maintenance

Michael is a native of Beaufort SC and has spent much of his life in the Lowcountry.  He loves the people in this part of the country and he works hard to exceed their expectations when they visit Beaufort Dog.  Michael proudly served his country as part of  the United States Air Force and is very proud of his Portuguese heritage.   He owns three Schnauzers, Snuffy, Autumn, and Pono, a Lab named Walker, and a Dachsund named Pee-Wee.

Kelly Schneider – Assistant Manager

Kelly is 28yrs old and grew up in Fort Atkinson WI.  She moved to Beaufort from NC in September 2009.  She has 2 dogs, a lab mix and a shepard mix, both rescues.  She has been married 5yrs and her husband is in the United States Marine Corps.  Her hobbies are horseback riding, riding bikes with dogs, and baseball.

Katelyn Peterman – Groomer

Katelyn is twenty-two year old daughter and soon-to-be wife of a US Marine. She has always had a fascination with animals, and got her first job at thirteen in a pet store. She has since worked with and owned everything from horses to taruntulas, including rodents, saltwater and freshwater fish, parrots, reptiles, and even the occasional exotic Coatimundi. After graduating high school and finding herself too squeamish for veterinary school, she decided to learn to groom and has never looked back. Katelyn attended grooming academy in Washington State in 2007 and can groom anything from Poodles to Pugs. She is currently owned by a French mastiff mix, Jockomo, and a kitten, Maika. Katelyn has lived here in Beaufort since September of 2009.  She looks forward to working with Beaufort Dog to expand her knowledge about dogs, and to build her relationship with the community.

Julie Eckstrom – Assistant

Julie Eckstrom grew up in Beaufort and graduated from Beaufort Academy in 2010. She was born into a family with a golden retriever and now has a toy poodle. Julie plays basketball, soccer, and volleyball so she has no problem keeping up with the dogs!  We are glad to have her as part of the team.

Jason Blackston – Owner and Head Marketer

Jason is in charge of the web design and marketing for Beaufort Dog.  Before helping start Beaufort Dog, he proudly served as a Physical Education Instructor at Beaufort Academy where he also coached Varsity Girls Basketball.  He also proudly served as webmaster for The Parish Church of St. Helena for a few years.  He and Phil Hodges are responsible for starting the Sermons and Classes Podcasts.

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