Came late to this one. Sorry. Cross training Beagle hounds is a very bad idea. As Mudder Chuck said, you don't want them running deer. If you train them to run rabbit and blood trail deer, the first time they hit a hot deer trail, they will come off the rabbit and run deer. And I have not seen a Beagle hound yet with the patience to hunt sheds but they could exist. Never seen one though. Yours is old enough now to start on a drag trail. Trap a rabbit so you will have a fresh one, put on some rubber boots and drag that rabbit in a very large circle just like a rabbit will run usually. Bring the pup to the general vicinity of that trail and let him/her find it then sound off. Keep it on a leash for a while like Chuck said. That is a really good way to get it to understand call back commands and things like that. One other thing, Beagle hounds work best in pairs to a pack. Lone Beagles will sometimes work well but it's kind of rare. Some have really good noses while others are better sight hounds. Your longer legged ones are usually the better sight hounds and once they lock on to a rabbit they have the foot speed to keep it in visual range. I also like to teach at least one in the pack to retrieve for when I crack one in the thicket. Your retriever will also take it away from any of the others that will try to tear into the rabbit. Beagles really aren't that hard to train really. Some are actually very intelligent but they can be a very stubborn breed. I hate using them but there are times, like when you have a new pack that like to chase deer, that shock collars are a blessing in disguise. Some people don't know how to train Beagles not to run deer and I have gotten more than my share of them over the years. The old man and I both always tried to raise them from pups and train them ourselves but sometimes the trading just doesn't go well and we need a pack for that year. So we have to rely on trades that are trained by others.