Another mini-van owner here. We bought it specifically with the dogs in mind.

We opted for a mini-van over a SUV because our dogs are older and the lower entrance (side door) to the van was better for our dogs. SUVs are too high for the oldest to jump in, and we knew it would get worse.

The bonus is we can fit all kinds of other stuff into it too, we took all the seats out and there is a lot of room in there.