with a cane what I did with the dog in eight to ten minutes. A cane is a probe which you can use to explore what's in your way, whereas a dog walks around obstacles. A dog is quicker and more efficient.'' Imagine training your dogs to jump, sit, stand, and heel, amongst other commands, and then have those dogs win prizes at championship shows.

"Nothing special about that. People do it every day,'' you might say. But Dr.

Ed Eames and his wife Toni, obedience trainers of Kirby and Ivy, are as special as their dogs. For the Eames are blind, and their golden retrievers are guide dogs.

This means that the Eames cannot see their animals as they train them, and the dogs must, in certain circumstances, go against guide dog training to obey commands necessary for the show ring.

So how do the Eames know if the dogs are doing what they're told, or even performing correctly? The answer lies in a combination of things: beeping devices, keen hearing, visual-vocal assistance from friends, ring stewards and judges, and perseverance.

The beeping devices were specially designed by a friend of the couple to help them hear where the dog is and what its movements are during training.

"One device goes around the dog's neck, and we use it for drop on recall exercises. This is when the dog is required, on signal, to run towards its handler and drop on command,'' Mrs. Eames explained. "With the device we can hear how fast the dog is running and how fast it dropped. The beeping dumbbell helps us with retrieval and high jump exercises.'' And of course, the beepers indirectly help the dogs to get food rewards when they perform their routines well.

The beepers are just some of the innovative methods the Eames have used to blaze what they hope is a trail for other sightless people to participate fully in obedience trials and dog shows.

"So far as we know, we are the only blind people who do this kind of competition,'' Mrs. Eames claimed. "I believe we're unique.'' Indeed, the Eames, who call Fresno, California home, have travelled all over that state, as well as to Arizona and now Bermuda to compete in dog shows.

Their trip here was a first, and they had nothing but praise for the experience.

"We had heard that your taxis didn't take dogs, but we found a dispatcher who handled the situation well. In fact, everybody has put themselves out tremendously for us,'' Dr. Eames said.

The couple were also fascinated to learn how, with proper documentation, it was possible to bring dogs into this British colony without difficulty -- unlike Britain itself.

"It's marvellous, and we love it,'' Dr. Eames enthused. Like proud parents, they were delighted with the awards their dogs won in the Bermuda All Breed Championship Dog Show and obedience trials last week.

The Eames first heard about Bermuda's World Congress of Kennel Clubs two years ago from a prominent obedience trainer in the United States. Although it seemed "light years away'' at the time, Mrs. Eames pursued the idea of attending, and the local Lions Club made the appropriate hotel and sightseeing arrangements. While here, the couple addressed the Congress on their work as trainers, and also about breaking the bond when an assistance dog died -- another subject they know well.

Assistance dogs include guide dogs, hearing dogs who work with the deaf, and service dogs who work with the disabled. They are indispensable to their owners and inevitably a very close bond is formed between the two. When a dog dies, the effect can be devastating.

Speaking from experience, Mrs. Eames said: "Losing a dog is the worst thing you can imagine. It's like losing your spouse and your best friend. But you have to be philosophical because you want to replace it. That means a new dog, a new personality and so forth. It's very traumatic.'' Noting that it takes about a year to work out as a team with a new dog because of all that is involved, Dr. Eames said: "It doesn't know you, your house, your stairs, your bank, your neighbourhood. You have to teach it everything.'' Although retired anthropologist Dr. Eames went blind in the '70s, he didn't get his first guide dog until 1981. Before that he used a cane. And there's no doubt which he prefers.

"A dog is quicker and more efficient,'' he said. Citing as an example preparation for a trip to the UK, whose quarantine laws made it impossible for him to use his dog, Dr. Eames recalled brushing up on his cane work with an orientation trainer on a block in Manhattan which he was used to walking every day with his guide dog.

"After working with the trainer, it took me about 45 minutes to accomplish with a cane what I did with the dog in eight to ten minutes. A cane is a probe which you use to explore what's in your way, whereas a dog walks around obstacles.'' Mrs. Eames, who has always been blind, got her first guide dog in 1967.

Beautifully behaved in comparison to the family mutt, it aroused her interest in obedience training, and she soon began entering American Kennel Club competitions.

As a result, she became the first blind handler of a guide dog to obtain American Kennel Club Companion Dog and Companion Dog Excellent titles for her guide dogs.

Although she had a hand in the guide dog training of her second dog, she realised she was unsuited to this work because she lacked two important skills: balance, and an excellent ability to echo-locate (pinpoint objects by sound waves). So she turned to training guide dogs for competitions, where precision was important.

Today, the results of her diligence speak for themselves -- as do her husband's, whom she finally got into the hobby after their move to California.

In fact, it was dogs which sparked the romance that ultimately led to the Eames' marriage five years ago.

"Ed was a professor, and what do professors do? Write books!'' she recalled.

"After he got his first guide dog he decided to write a book about them, and put out the word that he wished to interview people with guide dogs. I was one who volunteered.'' Her help proved so invaluable that he asked her to help him write the book, and eventually they married.

Both highly educated -- they are adjunct professors of sociology at California State University, Fresno -- and with impressive academic credentials, the Eames have published countless articles on blindness and guide dogs in a wide variety of journals. Together, they write a monthly column on assistance dogs for Dog World magazine, and have co-authored A Guide to Guide Dog Schools.

The devoted couple travel extensively giving lectures, classes and workshops on disability issues, mainstreaming and guide dogs, and are active in civic affairs. Dr. Eames is currently championing legislation to benefit people with assistance dogs in California.

Wherever they go and whatever they do, Ivy (10) and Kirby (6) are always at their sides -- except on aircraft and in restaurants, when they sit quietly under the seats.

As for their hobby, the Eames said: "We would like to encourage more blind people to get involved. Deaf people and those in wheel chairs are doing it, so why not the blind? It's also another form of bonding between humans and dogs.'' PERFECT COMPANIONS -- Dr. Ed Eames (left) and his wife Toni, with their guide dogs Kirby and Ivy, stroll through the show ring at the Botanical Gardens during last week's Bermuda All Breed Championship Dog Show and obedience trials.