(Large) Dog friendly setups on later models?

[techspy]

So I am swapping from my 2002 lifted burb to a 2015 Yukon XL Denali. I plan on lifting it 4 or 6 inches. Most of the time I have my German Shepherd with me (120 lbs or so) and it works out perfectly in my 2002. He jumps into the floor, then up on the bench seat with a cover on it. It is the perfect height for him to hang his head out the window and he can stretch and lay down on the seat. It is easy enough to remove the cover and have passengers. With my XL, it has bucket 2nd row seats and he doesn't have a good position to do either of the previously mentioned. His first time in, he went right to the 3rd row. I plan on leaving those down for equipment etc (I removed the 3rd row in my 02). So I am contemplating making a platform across the buckets or leaving them completely folded forward or removing them. Any of you with large dogs have any custom setups?