My boat is 8’6” wide, trying to figure a dingy for my wife and our 2-60 pounds dogs is daunting. Thinking about inflatable to stow over aft deck, or just tow a longer larger dingy. Any suggestions here as well.
Stow -vs- tow. How fast will you go? We have a lot of C-Dory boats in this area (they are made here in the PNW) about the size of your boat, and many of them stow a 8-9" inflatable on the cabin top - similar to the boat in this link...
Ah the dogs. This will limit some of your anchorages - there are beautiful places you might anchor that don't have easy public shore access your dogs will need close at hand. For a short trip, the abundance of Washington Marine State Parks might be your focus, along with a few select marinas for some reprovisioning or a nice hot shower or land food. You can find public beach accesses near good anchorages outside of the marine state parks but it can be a little harder to decipher because of the odd property laws here in WA. (Basically some property owners can own the tidelands, but not all do, and you never know when looking at a bay when someone does or doesn't.) The more detailed guidebooks will provide information about going ashore in the various anchorages around the islands.
Another good point for the Marine State Parks - they have docks which are not unreasonably priced for a 25 ft boat, and make your 2 60 lb dogs to shore task a bit easier. Some parks have separate free floating docks, which still make getting them and you in and out of the dink and onto the boat easier.
Here's an example of one - this is in Reid Harbor on Stuart Island. These two docks are just floating out in the middle of the harbor and are just for park boaters to tie to instead of a buoy. This was during our spring break trip this year. We had the dock and in fact the park and, aside from year round residents on the island, the harbor to ourselves. We usually aren't up for docks at the parks - it costs us extra $ and we don't want the dogs jumping ship and causing anyone trouble, but being along on the dock meant we could give them some freedom so we did it.
Even if you end up anchored out or on a mooring at the parks, there will still be the dinghy portions of the docks, so still an opportunity to get those big dogs on and off the dink without having to attempt to beach your dinghy, especially if you aren't used to doing it. It sounds like you don't have a dink now, and aren't used to it. If you do get one, practice with what you are going to use back home first - both for you and the dogs.
I would recommend using an Anchor buddy or similar system. We now swear by it. Not only does it save wear on the dinghy, but it makes getting on and off the beach a breeze - especially with two excited k9 crew. It lets us (well, ME) get me and the two dogs back on the boat at the water's edge, move to the back of the boat, then the bungy of the anchor buddy pulls us off the beach into deeper water. As I get the dogs situated, I then put the motor down, pull the anchor, and we're in water deep enough to start the engine, all without muss or fuss. Here's a pic of our dinghy sitting with the anchor buddy - a painter is holding it firmly tied to the shore, but with enough slack that its off the beach, the anchor buddy is holding it back off the beach, on a bungy that can keep tension as the tide moves up or down. (In this pic you can just see the blue of the anchor buddy at the port side of the transom, its attached to a folding anchor that is out behind the boat. The black 3/8" painter is about 80 ft long and tied to a huge driftwood log on shore. This was on the east shore of Skagit Island on Labor Day weekend.
The two favorite marinas for us are Deer Harbor and Roche Harbor. Deer Harbor is very small. Few amenities nearby, just a tiny store on the dock, showers, laundry, a pool, two restaurants you can walk to. Roche Harbor is a bigger resort, with two or three of its own restaurants, a much bigger store with nearly anything you'd need food-wise, a chandlery nearby, and even moped and a (single) car rental. Both are beautiful, scenic marinas.
Friday Harbor is another option, but is more like going to town, which is what you'll do when you go back to Anacortes. We typically avoid it. It has a ferry dock, lots of stores, streets full of cars, etc.