So she has mostly stopped pooping in her crate, the last time she smeared everything around I told her no very harshly as I showed her each dirty wipe. I think she's pooped twice since then but left it alone. She's not peeing in it that often either and is starting to get better about using the puppy pads. She's better about going outside if she goes out by herself, and she is walking to the door, but she's not giving us any time at all to get to the door before she runs off and pees somewhere else. We are working on it. Was thinking about putting a bell on the door and seeing it we can get her to tap it when she needs to go out.
Not sure which method you're planning to use or have researched, but if you're going to start the bell training, you may want to consider a pen around the crate.
When I was potty training, Bass peed on a green mat that eventually got moved outside…(this made my training technique easy and effective - I do not do the bell technique however, he is on a regular schedule).
A method to consider:
Establish one pee/poop spot in the pen, ring the bell every time you put Piper on the mat and she pees/poops. She will most likely connect the two. Once that is down, move the pee/poop mat right in front of a door and attach the bell to the door handle.
Keep taking her there to pee/poop and ring the bell.
Key words like "bell" or "pee" or "out" help too…keep it simple to relate all three for easy retention - bullies are very good at memorizing key words.
The goal is to get Piper to the door and nudge the bell herself, even if she still pees/poops on the piddle-pad inside, she is learning to go to the door, ring the bell and hopefully you will get there before she "goes". Bring the/a pad out side right next to the door as puppies cannot hold their bladder very well at that age, she's still very young, but a perfect age if you're going to try and do this kind of training…Consistency is KEY and lots of praise when she does something right. Once she goes out doors BIG praises and a reward.
The pen outside the crate works well if it's just you and no-one to help during the evening potty breaks, that way you're not getting up every 2-3 hours and the piddle-pad is right there until she's old enough to hold her bladder for 6 or more hours (usually 6+months). Good luck, she'll get it!!
OH, also, (not sure if this was previously mentioned) you can feed her in her crate(not the pen, but the crate), this will help establish that it is her den and not her bathroom…