Beagle Steals from Pockets

Question
We have two Beagles - 16 months and 6 months.

They're pretty well trained and well behaved in general - we've worked hard at it. They are very smart and learn all sorts of tricks and commands easily. When they are good they are up there with the best easy-to-train dogs - the oldest does racing, flyball, agility, swimming, obedience .. and she's good at them all. But it's a challenge to exercise any control when their hunting instinct kicks in. We're making progress by making sure the dogs realise that we control all that's good in the world and that they can have all of these things if they just pay attention to us and do as we ask. We're starting to get the hang of using the distractions (chasing, hunting, sniffing) as rewards for good behaviour and it's working well. We typically don't succeed at stopping our dogs from doing things they are determined to do, but shaping unwanted behaviours into something good seems to do the trick.

We have a problem with our oldest. She steals things from peoples pockets. She's learnt this from other dog walkers who feeder her (despite our requests that they don't) and  think it's cute when she rumages in their pockets. Now the first thing she does when she meets someone is check their pockets for treats. She's fast and effective - she's in and out in an instant and has been rewarded by bags full of treats, whole sausages, packets of chicken...you name it. The big worry is that she swallows bags and things too which is dangerous. Any ideas on how to stop this? (She doesn't do it to us or men - just women)

Answer
Unfortunately, dogs do what works, and they repeat behaviors that are intermittently reinforced.  So, in order to stop this, you really do need the cooperation of those dog walkers!!!  Tell them that you are re-training your dog not to be a pickpocket, because you are fearful that she will ingest something she shouldn't.  Tell them that they are not the problem (even though they are LOL), but that your dog has tried to eat something harmful from someone else's pocket (dark chocolate, or raisins perhaps) or that the dog's behavior is frightening a child who visits you.  Engage them to help so that they don't feel "blamed", I guess is what I'm suggesting.  This behavior will extinguish eventually if the dog is NEVER reinforced for it.  So, no eye contact, no talk, no goodies in the pockets - ever.  Then, teach your dog to greet, and earn her reward, by sitting directly in front of people as they come in.  Make it worth her while NOT to steal!