I thought I was the only one that had ever heard of july hounds....you must be an ol' hillbilly like me!
We have some gentlemen around our parts that still raise them, but I've never seen one smaller than about 17".Most of them look like small open spotted walker hounds. They've started breeding a little tree into them and some make fine squirrel dogs, but the majority of them are run on coyote/fox or deer. They do have the flag tails and are a little rougher coated than a slick beagle.
GH