Adorable Service Dog Gets His Own Yearbook Photo

He even has his own school ID

Students at Stafford High School in Falmouth, Virginia got a huge surprise when they opened their yearbooks this year, and it’s guaranteed to make you happy. Behold, the best yearbook photo of all time:

Meet Alpha Schalk– the cutest member of the junior class and service dog for AJ Schalk.

Senior Diana Bloom rides on the same bus as Schalk, but had no clue that Alpha would be making an appearance in the yearbook. She was delighted to see the dog in her yearbook and quickly tweeted out a photo. Her tweet has been retweeted close 3,000 times and is giving people some seriously good feelings.

https://twitter.com/jetpack/status/867533447706718208

All the emojis.

We’re not worthy.

https://twitter.com/jetpack/status/867335810965794816

Ours too.

Schalk has Type 1 diabetes. He told Buzzfeed News Alpha’s job is to let him know when his blood sugar is either too low or too high, using his keen sense of smell. Alpha can sense that something’s off 20-40 minutes before Schalk even knows it himself. “He has 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.

“Yes, Alpha is really an amazing animal,” Schalk told Buzzfeed. “He makes a disability, such as my diabetes, such a positive experience for me and my life overall, and really turns it into a blessing rather than a negative part of my life.”

Schalk tells Scary Mommy that Alpha knows his way around the school. “Alpha has been coming to school with me ever since halfway through last year, and this year he started to come to school with me everyday, ” he says.”[Alpha] became a huge part of the school environment.”

Since Alpha was in school everyday, it seemed only natural to Schalk that he be included in the yearbook too. Because his school administrators are awesome, they agreed. “I talked to a friend of mine in the yearbook club and asked if we could get Alpha in, and she asked the teacher in charge,” he explains. “She was 100% supportive, and the administration loved the idea.”

Alpha had no problems being a good dog for the camera. “On picture day, I took my picture and then slid over to get Alpha in front of the camera and they took his picture.”

Schalk still has a year of high school to go, but Alpha will be there with him every day. “And he will be going to college or whatever the next step of my life is,” he says. Even though the two are best buddies, Schalk confesses there’s one high school event that he plans to attend without Alpha. “He may be there for prom pictures,” he says with a laugh, “but not prom.”