RE: good family/rabbit dog?
 

Speed is a personal choice. If you want your rabbits flying by you as you are hunting, then get a fast dog. If you want them just to be hopping by and occasionally flying by, then you should go with a good medium speed dog. That being said, running a dog solo will generally tend to be slower than it can when running with another dog. There is the competetion factor with another dog, and also the other dog can help things along as far as when the dog looses the track . The more noses on the ground, the faster they can pick up the scent again and be off.

One other breed you might want to consider is the bassett hound. They are outstanding rabbit dogs as well/ You just need to make sure you get one from a long line of hunters, as most people that have them got them from puppy mills and the hunt is long gone from them and they are all full of deformities. The American Bassett Hound Association has a website for the hunting bassetts, you can find good hunters from there.

Personally, I am a beagle man but I would love to try hunting over bassetts someday.

RE: good family/rabbit dog?
 

That's a matter of personal preference. I run 2 packs, my A pack runs a speed 8.5 and my B pack runs a speed 7. It's enough of a difference that I won't run them together. I'm not sure what the cover/terrain is like up there but that will also dictate what speed you could run. In Central & Northern VA where I mostly hunt, SPO hounds (med. speed) are the most popular due to the terrain. In heavy cutovers orhuge tracts of land where you need dog power & speed to bring the rabbit back, I'd recommend a faster stronger style dog.