best advice is think about what you enjoy hunting most and whats most common where you hunt and go that way maybe, that or you will need to drive to hunt fav game with your dog?
next will be get some books on training the dog for what ever game you wish it to hunt
a Rabbit dog NEEDS to BACK while after the rabbit for safety reasons and that's also how you know to get ready and where the dog is at and what direction its going in?
a good beagle will bark its brains out and will run a dog back to you, its part of the game and its amazing what a GOOD beagle can do on rabbits
Upland game is also a loaded game, do you want a flushing dog, or a pointing like deal
BOTH can be trained into a DOG< but the flushing will be the more natural trait for a mix breed that you have
but again, you ca n IF you do your part, MAKE about anything out of the dog
TIME , Patience and staying behind good practices is CRITICAL to get a to a finished dog!
its either you want something ALL the time or NOT
go SLOW< train and make training FUN, kept things short and progress back and forts as you go thru the basis steps
But things NOT to do, are play KEEP AWAY< TUG OF WAR,, or tolerate commands NOT being followed AFTER the dog KNOW"S what your asking of it
when you don';t back up commands, it turns the game real fast on the dog THINKS it can do what it wants WHEN IT WANTS< and NOT when YOU want it to!
training isn't hard, but its about doing it the same ALL the time
its a HUGE bonding experience between you and the dog too,
I wouldn;'t trade the time I spent with my dog for all the money in the world
yes at times its frustrating, but stick to the game plan and the rewards are awesome!
also, kept an open mind in WHAT you will accept and won't and again GO SLOW,
150% easier to train RIGHT the first time than correct BAD habits!