It's the season to be jolly, however remember to consider yours and your family's safety while you're at it. It's no secret that crime is everywhere these days and especially during this season when our focus is diverted from home security is when we are most vulnerable to attacks.

So here are some simple tips to put into practice to help burglar proof your home when you're traveling for short or long periods of time during the holidays.

Put yourself in the burglar's shoes. There is no better way to identify any entry points than by going around your house with a friend who is not familiar with your property.

While you'll be able to notice any possible break in points, your friend can also help you see things that you might miss out on.

Try not to have the same habits when you're not at home. For example, closing all curtains or leaving the light on the porch switched on when not at home. These are signs for burglars that you're not in which will be more like an invitation for a break in.

Don't have answering machines with a ‘we're not at home right now' message playing, when you're not at home. Try to keep it simple, such as ‘we can't come to the phone right now, so please leave a message'.

Another important tip to remember is to keep your phones on a very low volumes when you're not at home or the continuous ringing of a phone will give away the fact that there's no one in to pick it up.

Dogs can be the very best protection against burglar's as they are able to smell intruders a mile away. Burglars don't need the attention a barking dog brings, hence will leave the premises as soon as they hear the dog. Best to keep the dog unseen so that the size or the breed of the dog doesn't play a part as long as the burglar can hear the dog bark.

If you'd rather have an alarm system in place of a barking dog, this is also a good option. But make sure the siren is loud enough to get your neighbors attention. Most importantly though, when purchasing an alarm that is movement or heat sensitive make sure that you don't fix it at a height where animals can be detected as well. This could definitely send off the alarm unnecessarily which could cause unwanted trouble not to mention any effect when an actual burglar is in.