This Virginia Teen's Service Dog is Going Viral With An Amazing Yearbook Photo

16-year-old Virginia high schooler Andrew Schalk surprised his classmates and his community on Thursday when an adorable snapshot of his service dog Alpha showed up in his high school's yearbook.

Schalk said he approached his high school's yearbook committee earlier this year about including a picture of Alpha, and received a hugely positive response.

It seems the photo has gone over well with his classmates, too.

"Seeing a picture of a dog caught my eye pretty quickly. I thought it was so cute." Schalk's classmate, Diana Bloom, told Buzzfeed News.

Bloom loved the yearbook photo so much, she tweeted a snapshot that has since been retweeted almost 9,000 times.

Schalk, who has Type 1 Diabetes, relies on Alpha to alert him when his blood sugar is getting dangerously low.

"He's saved my life multiple times already, by waking me up in the middle of the night to extremely low blood sugars, which are very dangerous," Schalk said.

Alpha has attended school with Schalk for the past year, becoming a favorite part of the high school environment for Schalk and his classmates.

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