I had 2 Beagles.
My first was a fat one,his parents appeared to be Bagles, Beagle and Basset mixes.
He had all the Beagle features but was not the small 13 or 15 inch. He was great but a hell of a chewer and when he was young he howled all the time. He was an outside dog and chewed the wooden fence alot. I did not do any hunting with him. He was super lovable with a house full of kids and never bared his teeth at them or anybody else but he loved to kill squirrels and a family of Possum that found their way int our storage shed.
After about 3 years we felt he was kinda lonely so our friends had a Basset and we got them breeding.
We took one of his sons and he started out as a great dog but had the same problems his father did plus one negative, he was super hyper. His father was lazy and relaxed but this pup was on crack and he got his old man back in shape within the first year and they both tore up the yard and howled 24/7.
They were extremely lovable dogs and great occasionally inside though we never house trained them.
They chewed through our chain link kennel and multiple times through the wooden fences and after bailing them out of the pound when they escaped and costing us total around $1,000 in fees, we came to the conclusion that the next time they escaped they would not be rescued.
It has been almost a year since the "great escape" and they are gone.
Pluses- Loyal, loving,great with every child they came across,not violent with other dogs.
Minuses- Chewing machines, tunnelers,hound-dog howling at night (the neighbors loved us),escape artists.
With all that being said when I get another dog I will consider Beagles again, they were great with the kids.