I currently have a Yeti 110bhp 2.0L diesel. I would have liked, [but not needed for day to day motoring needs] 140 bhp but this would have meant 4WD.
If buying new now I would be looking at a Mazda CX5 and a VW Tiguan, both 150bhp diesels and available as 2WD. Reviews in the press on these two vehicles are very favourable on performance, reliabily, build, spec etc. Discounts of about £2K are available through brokers/discount sites.
One general bit of advice is check on towbar costs and spare wheel. VW are available as factory fit and inclusive in cost of vehicle. Mazda are a more expensive dealer fit and very expensive factory supplied extra.

Colin

I came to the Yeti in June 2014 after a near 5 month wait, and all I can say it was worth it.
I had a 1.9tdi VW Touran for nearly 10 years prior to that and it was a difficult act to follow.
I do miss the ability to fit anything in the car approach I had with the Touran, but that's about it.
I get 48/52 mpg in light day to day traffic and if you keep to 56mph achieve high 60's mpg on a solo run. [The on-board dash computer shows low 70's]. Towing at UK legal speeds returns high 30's, touching 40mpg occasionally. Fast and fully loaded car and van sees this drop to 32/33 mpg through France. Towing figures are with a Familia, but when towing a Troll, Triton and Famila with previous Touran the figures did not really differ when on a run.
Comfort is excellent, but I did pay the few hundred extra for sports seats on my SE. They are not really sports seats, just more supportive with a bit of extra side bolstering. My long maiden run with van was a 2:30 am rise and arriving on French site at 5:30 pm some 650 miles later and still feeling good, although tired [I would add I stop every 2 1/2 hrs or so]
Other extras included spare wheel [I would not tow without one], which is a full size but not as wide as the road wheels, heated screen [fantastic] mudflaps[small but practical] and silver roof bars [look nice]
To drive the car is a hoot and belies its height. It sticks very well to the road, including winter time when I run it on Nokian winter tyres.
The dpf has not been an issue, but I must admit to being worried about it when I bought the car. I do less than 8,000 a year of which 2,000 can be in one month over the summer. My 5 mile trip to work each day does not see the engine reach 90c engine oil temp, but it will start a regen even on these runs.

With two dogs I think you may be tight on space as the boot is not the biggest, although I do manage to fit a table top fridge and freezer side by side when away for a month. I also take the back seats out [not many other cars allow this] to fill with camping gear and lots of wine boxes.

I would also think carefully and get some first hand feedback on the 1.4tsi. Whilst it offers a healthy 150bhp and 250 N/m of torque [this later figure is same as the 110bhp diesel], the revs need to be higher and the 150bhp diesel offers far more torque.

Hope this all helps.
PM me if you need any more details.

Colin