RE: Dogs for rabbit hunting
Spaniels are used for rabbit hunting in the UK, and I've shot several rabbit while bird hunting with my Springer. My experience is that a spaniel just jumps the rabbit, hopefully past you, for a shot rather than running it in a circle as Beagles do. If you decide to use a spaniel for rabbits make sure the dog is steady to the flush so as to avoid accidentally shootinga dog that might be in hot pursuit.