PRACTITIONER AND HER SERVICE DOG HEAL MORE THAN JUST PATIENTS
THEY BRING SMILES TO OTHERS
For Linda Jost, helping others was always first nature to her. Jost is a homeopathic practitioner, where she uses natural remedies to cure sick people.
If there's one thing Jost is known for in the community, it's helping people and getting them to smile with her, along with a furry, four-legged French bulldog named LaBella.
Jost was first exposed to the breed by her son, Jason.
“I never knew of them and I didn't know what they looked like. I was so oblivious to all of this,” she said. “He had a little French bulldog and I fell in love.”
Knowing that therapy and service dogs can help others too, Jost went online and found a breeder in Oklahoma. In that moment, Jost made arrangements to bring LaBella to Bakersfield to help Jost bring smiles to the community and the people around her.
“When they took her out of the crate at LAX, she came out and everybody cried and I cried like a baby. I couldn't believe it,” she said.
Jost first knew LaBella had a positive impact on people when she took her to Mercy Hospital Southwest to help bring smiles to patients as a service and therapy dog.
“I went in and saw an administrator and said, ‘I would like to make somebody happy in a room where they're not doing too well and I'd like to use my dog to see if she can do some good for somebody,'” she said.
Jost brought LaBella to see a struggling patient and was notified the patient wasn't fond of dogs, but that didn't stop Jost. She convinced the sick patient to be in LaBella's presence.
“He looked at her and LaBella looked at him, and it was love at first sight,” she said. “Service dogs are known to sit there and do nothing. Not LaBella — she ran up to his face and kissed him. And he lit up like a Christmas tree.”
Jost said she went back to the hospital the next day to check on the patient and received news that he was released.
“The administrator said a miracle happened overnight. Something happened. We feel God used LaBella as an instrument to heal him because he stopped bleeding and the hospital sent him home. Miracles still happen,” she said.
After that time, Jost knew LaBella was meant for more. After making an appearance on “The Jay Leno Show” seven years ago, the duo flew to Dallas to be featured in a Neiman Marcus Christmas catalog. From there, they were asked to be featured in a movie directed by Joey Travolta.
“We went downtown to Woolworth Diner in Bakersfield. We were sitting at a table having our milkshakes and burgers. I
was holding her in my arms and the camera panned, saw her, stopped and went on. That was our fame to glory,” she said.
“Carol of the Bells” is a 2019 film about a young man seeking out his biological mother and learning that she is developmentally disabled. Unable to work through this new discovery on his own, the man's wife has him face the truth and heal the past.
The entire film was shot in Bakersfield, highlighting some areas downtown.
Jost hopes to do more with LaBella with film in the future.
Now 8 years old, LaBella continues to help Jost with her career in medicine by letting all of her patients meet LaBella before their consultations and visit with her.
“She makes people happy and she's the love of my life. She's my daughter with four legs,” she said.