Soften stools just a little bit, naturally?

[OttersAreMySpiritAnimal]

My beloved dog is poorly. It's been a couple of months now and the vet is happy that all infections have cleared up. She's still on a low steroid dose but no other medications. The problem is she's in kind of a 2 or 3 day cycle with her poo.
Day one, goes no problem, day two struggles a bit with just a few bits coming out, day three nothing and she's crying when attempting to go. Eventually it all comes out and we start the cycle again. She's very happy in herself apart from this issue now she's over the other infections. Good appetite, drinking enough water.
The vet thinks she may have cancer and says there's nothing to be done.
What I think is happening is that her sphincter isn't working and she needs a pressure build up to push out poo. Day three is kind of the peak point when she hasn't got rid of enough the day before so it's getting a bit drier and harder, but it's still softish when coming out and isn't constipation, then it builds up enough pressure, she pushes out the drier stuff and then the rest comes out in a big whoosh in the evening of day three.
I'm wondering if it'd be helpful to soften her stool just a little bit. I don't feel like laxatives are the right answer, a bit too much. I'm already giving her probiotics and walking her more.
Has anyone any suggestions please? Any experience of using coconut oil or pumpkin powder, did they help?

My dog gets constipated. I give her rice and lamb kibble, which she enjoys but I now add some wet meaty food, which I add water to. This makes a gravy and the added fluid stops her from getting constipation. I buy Lidl pouches for her.

Pumpkin puree might help?

My dog goes each day but they can be smaller harder stools. He doesn’t drink much. He has food morning and evening so I’ve started giving him ‘lunch’ It’s just a few of his kibble in hot water, left to cool and dissolve. He’s happy with that and drinking more and his stools are larger and softer.

I’ve found that Chewllagen collagen chews help my dog’s stools to soften. She’s not constipated but had her anal glands removed years ago, so if her poo is too firm it’s tender for her.

A little oil in the food will help. Fish oil or vegetable oil.

Lactulose would seem to fit the bill.

Grated carrots added to her food will help, as will adding a teaspoon of olive oil.

Old Lab did well with psyllium husk powder. It retains water and adds bulk. I started him on half a teaspoonful twice a day and it was really helpful.

Thanks everyone, some really good ideas here.
She didn't do well on lactose, it didn't stop the build up, and then the release was, well, explosive for a couple of hours.
I gave her a teaspoon of coconut oil last night, we're in day 3 so no poo since 8pm last night.
Warm water with the kibble is a great idea, she's already on 3 meals a day as the steroids increase hunger and she demands food vocally with no off switch. Maybe I'll make one of those meals with just wet food instead of the mix of wet and kibble she normally gets too.
So I think I'll try all of these solutions one at a time and see how we get on. I'd never heard of collagen chews.
Thanks so much for the ideas!

Fenugreek is also a mucilaginate so a sprinkle of seeds in DDog’s breakfast and dinner might work.

natural yogurt and or pumpkin puree.

My dog has had several hernia operations and our vet advised 2 sachets of fybogel per day mixed in with his food and a little water to help it dissolve. His poos are soft and regular and, importantly, he doesn't strain. Definitely try fybogel for a week or so and see it it helps.

Thanks for the extra ideas!

No luck with soaked kibble and water in the food so we went to the vet on Friday morning.
She's now on 1 ml of lactulose twice a day, first day was yesterday and we had a little pooing several times in the day, only the first one painful. This morning, breakfast, steroids and lactulose, and a really good poo in the garden immediately after, but then she was air licking, probably for about half an hour. She's not displaying any other signs of anxiety so I'm guessing the lactulose may be making her feel a bit queasy. Anyway, she's asleep now so all good.
I'll report back in a couple of days for the benefit of those in future who might have a similar issue.

Will your dog eat fruit and veg? Plus if I need mine to drink more I add a touch of milk or tea to water and give it separately as a special drink.

Yes, some. There's carrot in her wet food and she'll much on one occasionally but it's equally as likely to turn up her nose, she likes apples and plums, loves roasted broccoli. But when this illness kicked off a couple of months ago the vet initially though it was colitis so had us change her over to a largely hydrolyzed diet and stop giving her anything except that. I'd been giving her physillium husk for a good couple of weeks when I first noticed her toileting issue, but it had no effect. Prior to that she would have veg in her evening meal most nights.
Hydration has never been an issue, she'll drink throughout the day.
I think we're at the point now where it doesn't feel like it's food related and probably not colitis, and we've stopped making any forward progress. My vet is going to have a chat with a specialist, so we're waiting for that. She actually really loves the hydrolyzed food so will stick with that.
I know it's early days but I'm hoping the lactulose will get her back to a natural daily rhythm and then we can stop. I'm keeping the fybrogel and collagen chews in mind too.