Hopefully former robbers and burglars of Reddit, what are some things people do that actually protect them? Does leaving a light on really help?

Unless you are a prime target burglars normally are scooping homes and even if they could they skip the ones with even minimal security. Answering the question a light indeed helps to make you less of a target but not many burglars are scared that easily, also I would recommend dogs, even if the could drug them or something the potential of them making a scandal is too big for them to risk it, also an alarm it’s good, not necessarily dialing a number (it would be better if you can afford it) but one that makes a lot of noise if someone enters