Meet the Humans behind Oliver Love

We created the Oliver Love children’s book to share the love for our dachshund and his doggie adventures.

A short story of a long dog tells the tale of a very sweet, well-loved wiener dog who was born on a farm, but moves to the city.

Follow along as Oliver Love discovers a happy dog life with a new family who adores him, takes good care of him, and promises to always give him ALL of their love.

  • Claire

    CREATOR

    Being stopped by people both young and old while out with Oliver Love was the spark for this story created by Claire Dwiggins. Memories of favorite childhood books inspired her to this creative outlet. She grew up with a sweet dachshund, Riley, and was even promised in her wedding vows that a dachshund pup was in their future. Claire is married to Jack and mom to her dachshunds Oliver, Annie, and Daisy. She is a foodie who loves great meals while traveling the world. But her favorite place is cuddling at home in North Carolina with Jack and the pups.

  • Michelle

    AUTHOR

    A love of words from an early age influenced Michelle Parker to write stories for herself and to share them with others. Sitting in comfy chairs and snuggling to read to her littles was a core memory that she wants other parents to enjoy. Her first book, “More Than a Mile” was a devotional about friendship, cancer, and running. But she always found fun in poetry and rhyme so bringing the story of Oliver Love to life, alongside her daughter Claire, was the perfect trio of combining words, kids, and pups together. She’s married to Kevin, mom to two grown girls and one teen son and Mimi to 4 dachshund pups. In her spare time, she loves walking outdoors, spending time with family and friends, or working on jigsaw puzzles.

  • Susan

    ILLUSTRATOR

    Susan Laker had a passion for art from a young age, encouraged by a fifth-grade art teacher. While she raised her kids she always saw life in pictures and the sketchbook given to her by her husband is filled with beauty and memories of those days. She always dreamed of illustrating a children’s book and decided to take her hobby to the next level. A perfect partnership was formed to bring the story of Oliver Love to life in color. Already friends, Susan and Michelle had fun combining their passions of pictures and words while meeting at libraries, coffee shops, and each others’ homes. Susan is married to Mike and mom to two grown girls and a sweet pup. When not painting she enjoys running in nature, traveling, and spending time with family and friends.