RE: Hound dog dilema
I don't know how good they would be for the squirrels, but as for the hogs and coons you could go with the North Carolina state dog, the Plott Hound. I don't have any personal experience with them, but I have heard good things from owners of the breed. They are widely used to hunt dangerous game, hogs, bears and cats. They have no fear when it comes to getting involved in a scrap with the game. When I was living in Georgia I had a buddy that was entering the coon trials, he had never heard of the breed. Soat one of the events he asked one of the old timers about Plotts, his response was, "They are like a Pit Bull on stilts." I have always liked that description.