Using database from some other hosting

I have a clients’ site which has a lot of videos.

– – I need to work on it setting up a test site with all the content and plugins from his site.

– – I was wondering, can I use – his existing database – – for the test site? (I don’t if it makes sense doing so)

I want to do that so as to avoid importing all the content from his hosting to my hosting’s databases.

Thanks,
Ankit