Lourdes Edlin
Lourdes Edlin has over 30 years of experience in the field of animal training. Lourdes started out training her family dogs and over the course of her career, has trained hundreds of animals including dogs, cats, birds, dolphins, orangutans and baboons.
Currently, Lourdes co-owns an animal training related business that offers an array of services including: Specialized Dog Training; Canine Frisbee Shows; providing animals for film industry; consulting on animal training for zoos and aquariums and dog show handling (agility, obedience or Frisbee).
A native of Cuba, Lourdes traveled to the U.S. at the age of two. She is bilingual and maintains an ethnically diverse clientele.
Throughout her professional career as an animal trainer, Lourdes competed with her own personal dogs in the sport of canine Frisbee. This hobby soon led her Frisbee dogs to an opportunity to travel and perform with Ringling Brothers & Barnum & Bailey Circus during a two year National tour. In addition to the sport of Canine Frisbee, Lourdes trained dogs in the sport of agility, obedience, tracking, schutzhund and dog diving.
Lourdes has appeared as an expert television commentator for the Purina Incredible Dog Challenge as well as provided training tips during a segment of the television show, Cruiser’s Training Tips. She is also a spokesperson for the Purina Incredible Dog Challenge, having represented the brand on various national television shows, including Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with David Letterman, Today Show, Good Morning America and Fox & Friends, among others.
Lourdes is also contracted by Purina as either Tournament Director or official judge and spokesperson for the Incredible Dog Challenge. It is her responsibility to resolve questions or problems between the competitors, staff and television production, as well as represent their company during various television interviews. In addition, she reviews footage of their events and provides expert commentary consultation for on air talent.
Previously, Lourdes was the Southeastern and Central Regional Canine Trainer and Coordinator for the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Beagle Brigade. As the Regional Trainer and Coordinator, she trained and implemented Detector Dog Teams for various ports of entry. In addition, she was responsible for the Detector Dog Team’s yearly evaluations and reported their progress.
Lourdes has specialized in Canine sports (Frisbee and Agility) for over 15 years. During this time she has competed in both venues at over 300 competitions. She is one of top woman competitors in the sport of canine Frisbee and has titled over 10 dogs of various breeds in the sport of Agility since 1998. Recently she was one of only two women in Canine Frisbee inducted into the Ashley Whippet Hall of Fame.
Lourdes, her husband Alex and her 4 year old son live in Miami, FL with their trained 5 dogs, cat, pig and cockatoo.
In addition, Lourdes presently assists other dog owners (including children) in developing a training program utilizing canine sports as a form of energy outlet. One of her most recent successes was to assist in the training of a Rescue Greyhound in Agility, Frisbee and High Jump. In fact, this Greyhound named Cindy is the current Guinness World Record High Jumper, clearing a height of 68 inches.
