A good stock of hunting dog is important, but not absolute. However, all hunting dogs need good training to be the best they can be. This most of the time requires starting them off young while hunting with other well trained dogs. Fortunately, beagles are fairly easy to train and are often naturals. Most will run a rabbit to some degree but when running them with other well trained beagles they learn how to stay on the trail and/or back track if they lose the trail. I had one beagle that would somewhat run a rabbit but ultimately failed as a good rabbit dog. Most any beagle will run a rabbit, but to what capacity they run one can be a different story.
I really enjoyed rabbit hunting with beagles. The bad part is, despite what some beagle owners might say, many beagles will run deer. Not all, but most. I spent the night in my truck one night after my dad’s beagles ran a deer and didn’t come back. Finally, the next morning we found them on a road several miles away. Dad swore his beagles wouldn’t run deer.
Rabbit hunted with my cousin and the beagle got after a deer. The dog was never found.
The last time I rabbit hunted with beagles was with a friend that bragged his beagles wouldn’t run deer. I watched those dogs chase a deer that day.