Recommend a new car for someone with 2 dogs?

I'm looking at SUVs for myself - I have two dogs and I'm looking at new cars so that I can have it for a while as well as the money being well spent. My dogs aren't huge - they both are around 40 lbs. I was looking at vehicles with back space so they can have the back to themselves while people would be able to sit in the seats. I've been thinking about Ford Escape or Subaru Outback - does anyone else have any opinions? Experiences? Advice? Thanks in advance.