About Us

Let us introduce ourselves to you. We are Sam and Connie Kaehr (pronounced car). We were born and raised in the Bluffton, Indiana area. Raised only a few miles from each other, we had no idea that the other existed until I noticed Connie in church one Sunday afternoon. Thirty years later, after raising a family, building a farm, and paying the bills (the American dream really), we found ourselves approaching the “empty nest”, part of our lives. Our boys grew up.

Dan married our beautiful daughter-in-law, Caitleigh, who now have three children of their own.

Matt married Olivia, another beautiful daughter-in-law. Both Matt and Olivia are involved in the sales and management here at Puppies By Design.

Ben, our youngest son, juggles helping us on the farm and getting a degree for Physical Therapy.

It’s been said that opposites attract. No truer statement can be said about us. I love fast boats, motocross, hockey, and anything else that my body will still let me do. (Thirty-three broken bones and counting.) Connie, on the other hand, enjoys baking, reading, and home improvement projects. The reality of how opposite we are didn’t really set in until our busy lives of raising the boys slowed down. That’s where raising puppies came to our rescue. Dogs have always been part of our lives and raising puppies have been some of our fondest memories. It’s something that we both really enjoy and can do together.

Matt and Olivia have made puppies their passion. If we have the pleasure to work with you on your new puppy, there’s a good chance that you may be referred to either Matt or Olivia during this process.

Rachel keeps all our dogs well groomed, trimmed, and clipped. She has a lot of experience with grooming and we are so thankful to have her. Grooming is such an important role!

Abigail is like the leader amongst all of our helpers. She has been here the longest now, and understands how things work and what needs done. She also leads by example and a great attitude. Kind of like an Co -Manager of the facility; she plays a huge role at Puppies by Design and we wouldn’t be the same without her!

From day 1, it was easy to depict Courtney’s love for dogs. Her love shows in the care and patience she has for our dogs/puppies. We are excited to see what the future brings with Courtney here.

We have been privileged to have Hadassah with us for several years now! She started as a puppy hugger, and now helps with daily chores/cleaning as well. She has a great eye for catching anything abnormal with the facility and puppies. We are excited for her future here!

Some things here just require a young man! Believe it or not, raising puppies requires a lot of hard labor and isn’t just cuddles and ice cream. Marcus is our heavy lifter and go-getter. He plays a huge role in the behind the scenes task that are so vital to our operation. And also, our adults just love him!